Elon Musk has reportedly rejected Twitter’s (NYSE:TWTR) invitation to join the company’s board of decision-makers. Now, the world’s richest man is poised for a complete takeover of the social media company and TWTR stock, judging by his comments.
Last week, the billionaire announced he had dumped $2.9 billion on a 9.2% stake, or 73.5 million shares in TWTR stock. This occurred after he polled more than 80 million followers on the platform about Twitter’s relationship with free speech.
Musk, known for using his platform and wealth to disrupt conventional means, expressed he was seriously considering acquiring a social media company. A week later, Musk announced he is now the largest shareholder of the company and immediately started pushing for an edit button on the platform.
On Saturday, he called for a series of structural changes, including the complete overhaul of the company’s core values. This was after Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal had announced Musk’s appointment to the company’s board.
But on Sunday, Agrawal announced Musk turned down the invitation. This decision was probably a result of two things. First, he likely wanted to avoid the board’s condition that capped his acquisition at 14.9%. The company stated:
“For so long as Mr. Musk is serving on the Board and for 90 days thereafter, Mr. Musk will not, either alone or as a member of a group, become the beneficial owner of more than 14.9% of the Company’s common stock outstanding at such time, including for these purposes economic exposure through derivative securities, swaps, or hedging transactions.”
Analysts interpreted this as a strategy to halt Musk’s suspected takeover plans. Turning down an opportunity to join the board of directors of a company one just invested $3 billion in may be interpreted as disapproval of the appointment conditions.
CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino said in a note to clients, “We had thought the equity cap and board seat was originally intended to handcuff Musk in many respects and think he is unlikely the type of individual who will now just sell his stake and walk away.”
The number two reason for the rejection would be to avoid drawing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attention to his activity. Previously, Musk was fined $20 million for tweeting plans to take Tesla private at $420 per share in 2018.
This means it’s a good time to accumulate TWTR stock. About two weeks ago, Musk made it clear he was looking to acquire a social media platform to ensure free speech after he was asked to block Russian news sites from accessing Starlink internet. The billionaire described himself as a free speech absolutist.
Musk has since made it known that Twitter is his social media of interest. Therefore, I expect him to increase his acquisition going forward and, subsequently, the value of TWTR stock.
On the date of publication, Samed Olukoya did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
