South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk became the largest shareholder in the micro-blogging platform Twitter Inc. last month after purchasing 9.2 percent stock of the company. However, his stint as Twitter’s largest shareholder was a short one, as Vanguard funds, an American investment advisor registered in Malvern, Pennsylvania has replaced him yesterday. Vanguard funds has increased its holding in Twitter to 10.3% of the social media giant’s stock, making it the largest shareholder of the company.
According to the most recent publicly available filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC), Vanguard now owns 82.4 million shares of Twitter or 10.3 percent of the company.
According to the Wall Street Journal, based on Twitter’s closing price on Wednesday, Vanguard’s holdings are now worth $3.78 billion.
The Journal said, “Vanguard isn’t making a directional bet on Twitter. Instead, most of its assets are in indexes and other so-called passive funds. The firm often sides with management on voting issues and doesn’t advocate for changes like a hedge fund or activist investor might.”
As of last December, the Vanguard Group, the second-largest investment firm in the world, after BlackRock, owned around 70.4 million Twitter shares, accounting for 8.8 percent of all outstanding shares.
Elon Musk, on the other hand, is the largest individual shareholder in Twitter, with company co-founder Jack Dorsey the second largest individual shareholder.
Elon Musk makes a hostile takeover bid for 100% shares of Twitter
Elon Musk made an offer to buy 100% shares of Twitter Inc, the company that runs the microblogging social media platform Twitter. Musk, who created a stir when he announced he has bought 9.2% of the company, claims he will ‘unlock its extraordinary potential’ after taking the company private.
Musk refused the offer to join the company’s board of directors, which he had initially accepted after a condition was put before him that he would not be able to raise his stake beyond 15%. As an independent investor, Musk can now increase his holdings in Twitter beyond the stipulated 15%.
The Twitter board, however, on Thursday, appeared to be opposed to a purchase. The board of directors was debating whether to use a “poison pill,” a defensive corporate strategy that raises the price of the target’s stock to deter an unfavorable takeover offer.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief, in turn, had hinted at the possibility of a hostile takeover bid in which he would bypass Twitter’s board and put the offer directly to its shareholders. He Tweeted, “It would be utterly indefensible not to put this offer to a shareholder vote. They own the company, not the board of directors.”
According to reports, the Tesla and SpaceX chief has offered to pay $54.20 per share in cash for 100% shares of the company, valuing the offer at about $43 billion.
Absolutely. It would be utterly indefensible not to put this offer to a shareholder vote. They own the company, not the board of directors.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Saudi prince refuses to sell his shares after Elon Musk proposes to buy out the microblogging site
Meanwhile, hours after Tesla CEO Elon Musk offered to buy 100% shares of Twitter, Saudi Arabian billionaire businessman Al-Waleed bin Talal refused to sell his stake in the micro-blogging platform.
While reacting to the development, Elon Musk had inquired, “How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly? What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?”
