Elon Musk fires back at Twitter after it adopts ‘poison pill’ stance

Elon Musk fires back at Twitter after it adopts ‘poison pill’ stance

On Monday, Elon Musk took a shot at Twitter’s board of directors after the social media firm implemented a “poison pill” to defend itself from a $43 billion cash acquisition bid from its second-largest shareholder.

Musk wrote in response to a user’s comments criticizing the board, saying that the board compensation will be $0 if his offer wins, adding that it would be $3M/year saved.

Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist” who has criticized Twitter’s regulations, made no more comments on the message. A request for comment from Twitter was not immediately returned.

The billionaire troll

Continuing his rant against the corporation, Musk polled his 80 million followers on Thursday, asking if “taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board,” a significant majority said yes.

Later, when Twitter chose a plan to sell shares at a discount to prevent shareholders from amassing a holding of more than 15%, Tesla CEO also posted “Love Me Tender,” an Elvis Presley song. Musk presently owns 9.1% of the company.

Meanwhile, Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey chastised the company’s board in a series of Twitter replies on Saturday, stating the board has continually been the company’s dysfunction.

Twitter on edge

“The wrong partner on your board can literally make a billion dollars in value evaporate,” tweeted venture entrepreneur Garry Tan, prompting Dorsey’s comment.

Twitter’s stock was up around 4% to $46.85 per share but still behind Musk’s offer of $54.20 per share. Since Musk declared his ownership on April 4, they have increased by about 15%.

Meanwhile, Thoma Bravo, a technology-focused private equity group with over $103 billion in assets under management as of the end of December, has told Twitter that it is looking into the possibilities of putting together a proposal.