Prominent rejection for Elon Musk: Saudi Arabian investor Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, as one of Twitter’s major shareholders, rejected the Tesla founder’s $41 billion takeover bid for the short-message service on Thursday. But Musk shouldn’t give up so easily.
He doesn’t believe “Elon Musk’s proposed offer ($54.20 per share) comes close to Twitter’s net asset value given its growth prospects,” said Prince Al-Walid bin Talal, who has a stake in the short-messaging service. through his holding company Kingdom, to know. “Interesting,” Musk replied. ‘Just two questions, if I may. How much of Twitter does Kingdom own, directly and indirectly? What does Kingdom think about journalistic freedom of expression?”
Musk had repeatedly seen the latter in jeopardy on Twitter in the past. “I invested in Twitter because I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the world,” he wrote in a letter to Twitter CEO Bret Taylor on the occasion of the takeover bid. However, it is now clear to him that the company in its current form will not thrive and will not fulfill this social task.
Worse or better?
In fact, the short message service has recently come under increasing criticism for its arbitrary censorship of accounts “that don’t represent a particular political narrative,” as noted CMC Markets chief analyst Michael Hewson. The arbitrary way Twitter authenticates users and handles fake accounts against real users is also problematic. In addition, Twitter is not very successful in terms of customer service and in trying to monetize its many users and does not live up to expectations.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be bad to shake up the status quo,” Hewson said. No matter how you feel about Musk, he would definitely shake things up. “The only question is whether he would make things worse or better.”
Necessary financial resources
Meanwhile, during his appearance at Thursday’s TED conference, Elon Musk assured that he wasn’t trying to monetize the purchase effort, but using Twitter to set up a platform for free speech. He believed that all views should be allowed within the law. He expressed doubts about the success of his takeover attempt: Musk said he was not sure whether he could actually buy Twitter, but then put into perspective that he had the necessary financial resources to do so.
Musk is by far the richest person in the world, thanks in large part to his interests in electric car maker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX. Financial service Bloomberg estimates his fortune at about $260 billion at recent stock prices.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
