PROVIDENCE, RI ( Associated Press) — Twitter said Friday that its board of directors unanimously adopted a “poison pill” defense in response to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal to buy the company and take it private.
Twitter said the move, formally called a “limited-term shareholder rights scheme,” aims to enable its investors to “realize the full value of their investments,” by reducing the likelihood that any The individual can gain control of the company without paying the shareholders. Premium or giving more time to the board. Poison pills are often used to defend against a hostile takeover.
Twitter’s plan will take effect if Musk’s roughly 9% stake rises to 15% or more. Even so, Musk could still take over the company with a proxy fight by voting out the current directors. Twitter said the plan does not prevent the board from engaging with the parties or accepting a takeover offer if it is in the “best interest” of the company.
Twitter disclosed in a security filing on Thursday that Musk offered to buy the company for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform should be viewed “as a private company” to build trust with its users. needs to be changed”.
“I believe that free speech is a social imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in the filing. “Now I realize that the company will neither thrive nor meet this social imperative in its present form.”
Later on Thursday, during an onstage interview at a TED conference, he went on to become even broader: “Having a public forum that is more trustworthy and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.”
