Twitter Inc chief executive officer Parag Agrawal on Thursday told employees that the board is still evaluating Elon Musk’s offer to buy the company and take it private, people familiar with the matter said.
At an all-hands meeting, staffers raised questions about potential scenarios, and Agrawal’s tone was neutral, said the people, who asked not to be identified because it was a private discussion.
Agrawal did not indicate which direction the board was leaning, calling it a “rigorous process” to determine what was in the best interest of shareholders, they added.
Photo: Reuters
Twitter chief marketing officer Leslie Berland read Twitter employees’ questions submitted over Slack at the meeting, the people said.
No other board members, including former CEO Jack Dorsey, addressed the group in the meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, they said.
Twitter declined to comment. The company’s board on Thursday morning held an emergency meeting to debate possible responses to Musk’s overture — including a poison pill, a measure companies typically use to protect from hostile takeovers — other people familiar with the matter said earlier.
Billionaire entrepreneur Musk offered to take Twitter private in a deal valued at US$43 billion, lambasting company management and saying he is the person who can unlock the “extraordinary potential” of a communication platform used daily by more than 200 million people.
The world’s richest person said he would pay US$54.20 per share in cash, 38 percent above the price on April 1, the last trading day before Musk went public with his stake.
The social media company’s shares were little changed at US$45.81 in New York on Thursday, a sign there is skepticism that one of the platform’s most outspoken users will succeed in his takeover attempt.
Musk, 50, announced the proposed deal in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, after turning down the chance to take a board seat at the company.
Musk, who also controls Tesla Inc, first disclosed a stake of about 9 percent on Monday last week, making him the largest individual investor. Tesla shares fell about 3 percent on concern that the attempt to acquire Twitter would be a distraction for Musk.
In an interview at a TED conference in Vancouver on Thursday, Musk said he is not sure he will succeed with the acquisition, and indicated that he has a Plan B if Twitter’s board rejects his offer. He declined to elaborate.
The bid is the most high-stakes clash yet between Musk and the social media platform. The executive is one of Twitter’s most-watched firebrands, often posting memes and taunts for @elonmusk’s more than 80 million followers. He has been vociferous about changes he would like to consider imposing at the social media platform, and the company offered him a seat on the board following the announcement of his US$3.35 billion stake.
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