Twitter is reportedly reconsidering Elon Musk’s bid to acquire the social media giant and “might be receptive to a deal,” the company said on Sunday, hours after the Tesla CEO had to clear a cryptic he sent.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Twitter had received Musk’s $43 billion takeover bid. Twitter bosses will meet with Musk officials on Sunday, the newspaper reported.
However, the situation is evolving rapidly and there is no guarantee that Twitter will do so, according to the Journal.
They are expected to comment on Musk’s offer during the first-quarter earnings report on April 28.
Earlier on Sunday, Musk had tweeted that he would “move on” to his more than 83 million followers, leaving many hours down on what he was up to.
The post had over 136,000 likes, 11,000 retweets and more than 2,400 quote tweets as of Sunday morning.
Later in the day, Musk clarified that the tweet referred to “making fun of Gates for selling short Tesla while claiming to support climate change action” and not moving on from talks with Twitter about a takeover bid .
Gates, the third richest man in the world after Musk and Jeff Bezos, shot at the Tesla CEO earlier this year after the electric vehicle maker announced it would take a $1.5 billion stake in Bitcoin.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be getting cold feet over his proposed Twitter acquisition after he cryptically tweeted “carry on” on Sunday
Gates, the third richest man in the world after Musk and Jeff Bezos, shot Tesla’s CEO earlier this year after the electric vehicle maker announced it was taking a $1.5 billion stake in Bitcoin
“Elon has tons of money and he’s very sophisticated, so I’m not worried that his bitcoin will go up or down randomly,” Gates told Bloomberg on Thursday.
“I think people get sucked into these manias who may not have that much cash to spare, so I’m not bullish on bitcoin. My general thought would be that if you have less money than Elon, you should probably watch out,” he said.
Gates has also previously commented that electric trucks like the Tesla Semi are not viable, which Musk countered.
In an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience, Musk said he believes the Microsoft founder had a large short position in Tesla stock at one point.
“I heard he once had a big short position. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it seems odd,” Musk told Rogan.
“People I know who know the situation pretty well, I asked them, ‘Are you sure?’ and they said, ‘Yes, he has a huge short position on Tesla.’ That didn’t work out so well.’
Musk tweeted this dig at Bill Gates on Friday night, comparing the Microsoft founder’s belly to that of the controversial pregnant man emoji
Musk last poked fun at Gates’ belly on Twitter Saturday, posting a photo of the Microsoft mogul next to Apple’s controversial “pregnant man” emoji “in case you need to kill a boner.”
Musk, the world’s richest person, posted a follow-up image in response to Friday’s post of six hooded figures with the caption, “Shadow Ban Council review tweet.”
The understated joke could further irk woke Twitter workers who are upset about Musk’s continued bid to buy the company after saying he would take a tough stance in support of free speech.
Musk made the vague statement days after filing documents with the SEC on Thursday.
He had previously committed $21 billion in equity, $13 billion from Morgan Stanley in credit facilities, and an additional $12.5 billion from the bank and others in margin loans.
But “a portion” of its Tesla stock has been pledged as collateral, which analysts say could have a huge impact on the company.
The 50-year-old billionaire also announced Thursday that he was considering a takeover bid for Twitter after the company ignored his takeover bid.
He said he was considering getting shares directly from shareholders, but acknowledged he “has not yet determined whether to do so at this point.”
The move signals Musk is stepping up his commitment to acquiring Twitter after weeks of back-and-forth between the entrepreneur and the company.
Earlier this week, the social media giant filed its “poison pill” defense with the SEC in a last-ditch effort to prevent it from further increasing its stake in the company.
Musk, the richest man in the world, currently owns a 9.2 percent stake in the tech giant and is seeking to privatize it with an unsolicited offer of $54.20 per share.
In a Twitter poll of nearly 20,000 users, 73 percent wanted Musk to buy Twitter, while another 27 percent opposed it.
Meanwhile, Twitter’s share price closed 0.77 percent higher at $47.08 on Thursday as speculation continues to rumble over whether Musk’s bold takeover will succeed.
Elon Musk’s attempted hostile takeover of Twitter timeline:
- Jan. 31: Musk begins buying Twitter stock “almost daily.”
- April 4: The billionaire announces that he has a nine percent stake in the tech giant
- April 5: Twitter offers him a seat on the board – as long as he does not own more than 14.9 percent. He initially accepts the offer
- April 8: The Vanguard Group announces it owns a larger stake in Twitter at 10.3 percent, meaning Musk is no longer the largest shareholder
- April 9: Musk declines his seat on Twitter’s board of directors on the day he is due to join
- April 10: CEO Agrawal announces that Musk has declined to join the board in a statement
- April 12: Investor Marc Bain Rasella files a lawsuit against Musk in NYC for “failing to timely report his Twitter stock purchases to the SEC.”
- April 14: The Tesla founder offers to buy Twitter for $43 billion
- April 14: Twitter shares plummet after hostile takeover bid
- April 15: The Twitter board launches a “poison pill” strategy against Musk
- April 16: Musk tweets “Love Me Tender” as he teases again about the possibility of a hostile takeover of Twitter
- April 17: Musk agreed to a tweet saying the “game is rigged” if he can’t buy Twitter
- April 18: Jack Dorsey blasted the Twitter board for “conspiracies and coups” that were “consistently the company’s dysfunction.”
- April 18: The social media giant files its “poison pill” defense with the Securities and Exchange Commission
- April 21: Musk files an SEC document revealing how he will fund the takeover bid
- April 24: Must-tweet “moving on” in reference to making fun of Bill Gates
- April 24: Twitter announces it will reconsider Musk’s $43 billion offer to buy the company