Elon Musk is sort of becoming like billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn.
The Tesla CEO, who has a 9.2% stake in Twitter, offered to buy the social media platform for $54.20 a share on Thursday.
Here is what Musk wrote in a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor, as disclosed in a new SEC filing.
"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.
However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.
As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced. My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.
Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it."
Twitter shares (TWTR) surged 13% in pre-market trading.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.
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