Key Takeaways:
- El Salvador president Nayib Bukele has asked people to support Elon Musk.
- Musk has put in a bid to buy Twitter at $54 per share in his plans to take the company private.
- Many oppose Musk's move, including a Saudi Arabian prince, Tesla investors and Twitter employees.
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) – Nayib Bukele, El Salvadore’s Bitcoin (BTC) loving president, has thrown his weight behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
In a supportive post, Bukele has called for wide support for Musk as the latter attempts to take control over the popular social media giant Twitter. Unsurprisingly, while his attempt has caught the fancy of many, others are out to save the company from the SpaceX founder’s clutches. In the words of the Central-American leader, “Everyone interested in the future of humanity should side” with Musk.
Meanwhile, the US-based investment advisor Vanguard Group has acquired a 10.3% stake in Twitter. Before the acquisition, Musk was the biggest shareholder after shelling $3 billion for a 9.2% stake in the firm days earlier. He had even declined a seat on the company’s board despite getting the offer from company CEO Parag Agrawal. As a result of his Twitter investment, Dogecoin (DOGE) rallied by 9%.
Although it is unclear why he was not satisfied with a seat on the board, his plans for Twitter’s future likely require total control.
“Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!,”
he had written in a response to Agrawal.
Musk had earlier insisted that his attempt to acquire Twitter is to make sure users’ freedom of speech remains intact. To make his bid irresistible, he has offered to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the previous day’s closing value. In addition, he even threatened to reconsider his earlier investment if the company declined his offer.
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Who wants to stop Musk from buying Twitter?
Following the news of Musk’s investment in Twitter, many former shareholders filed a suit against him. They accuse him of violating a regulatory deadline by not revealing on time that he had accumulated a stake of at least 5%. As a result, many lost potential profits by selling their shares.
To add to his voes, Tesla investors are unhappy with his plans. They fear Musk will get to involved with Twitter and will neglect the interests of Tesla. What’s worse, they think the multi-billionaire could sell his shares in the company to fund his Twitter ambitions.
Many employees at the social media giant are also reportedly worried about the possibility of Musk taking over the company. In addition, some see Vanguard Group’s move to unseat Musk as the largest shareholder as a bid to stop his hostile takeover. According to El Salvadore’s president, all these are attempts to pull the breaks on Elon Musk’s ambitions.
“That fact that so many “guardians of the system” are freaking out about Elon Musk buying Twitter is the main argument in favor of it,”
Nayib Bukele wrote.
Adding to the mounting opposition, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, one of Twitter’s largest shareholders, announced that he would vote to reject Elon Musk’s offer. As a result, Musk hit back, questioning Saudi Arabia’s commitment to free speech.
Despite the threats, Musk is determined to see his offer through. He even created a Twitter poll to pressure the board to give their consent.
“If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty,”
the Tesla CEO wrote.
Whether or not he can succeed in buying the company remains to be seen. Alternatively, he has already dropped a hint about creating an alternate platform to compete with Twitter. Nonetheless, he has Nayib Bukele’s support.
