Entrepreneur Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, posted what some are calling a “cryptic tweet” over the weekend that might signal his next potential move as he seeks to buy Twitter for tens of billions of dollars.
Musk tweeted, “Love Me Tender” along with musical note emojis on Saturday, leading to speculation that the word “tender” could be “a likely wink-and-nod reference to a potential tender offer to Twitter Inc. shareholders for control of the company,” Bloomberg News reported. “If Twitter directors ultimately reject him, the world could learn whether Musk was truly threatening a direct appeal to shareholders or had just added the 1956 Elvis Presley hit ‘Love Me Tender’ to his playlist.”
🎶 Love Me Tender 🎶
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 16, 2022
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) notes that a “tender offer” is “is typically an active and widespread solicitation by a company or third party (often called the ‘bidder’ or ‘offeror’) to purchase a substantial percentage of the company’s securities.”
A tender offer is only available for a short period of time and is made to everyone who owns stock in the company. The price offered to purchase the shares is fixed and usually comes at a premium rate compared to the current market value of the stock.
Musk also revealed what would happen to Twitter’s board if he takes over the company which comes as reports have surfaced in recent days that Musk may seek to partner with other investors to buy the company due to the company’s adoption of a “poison pill,” which could make buying the company significantly more expensive.
“Let me point out something obvious: If @elonmusk takes $TWTR private, the TWTR board members don’t have jobs any more, which pays them $250K-$300K per year for what is a nice part-time job,” Gary Black, Managing Partner, The Future Fund LLC, wrote on Twitter. “That could explain a lot.”
Musk responded, “Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there.”
Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 18, 2022
Former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey slammed the Twitter board in a tweet over the weekend over the apparent negative impact that it has had on the company.
Dorsey was responding to the following tweet when he made his remark, “If look into the history of Twitter board, it’s intriguing as I was a witness on its early beginnings, mired in plots and coups, and particularly amongst Twitter’s founding members. I wish if it could be made into a Hollywood thriller one day.”
Dorsey responded, “It’s consistently been the dysfunction of the company.”
Dorsey also said “big facts” in response to the following statement from venture capitalist Fred Destin: “What I do know for sure is that this old Silicon Valley proverb is grounded in age-old wisdom that still applies today: Good boards don’t create good companies, but a bad board will kill a company every time.”
When later asked if he was allowed to speak like this publicly given the fact that he is still on the company’s board, Dorsey responded, “No.”