Elon Musk tweets ‘Love Me Tender’ as he hints about ‘hostile takeover’ of Twitter

Elon Musk has tweeted ‘Love Me Tender’ as he again hinted at the possibility of a hostile takeover of Twitter.

The billionaire posted the Elvis Presley lyrics at the weekend in a potential bid to lure shareholders with a tender offer that could see him seize control.

A tender off would see him bypass the board and go straight to shareholders with his offer of $54.20 a share – but he would need to show how he would finance his bid.

He also appeared to suggest he would strip board members of their salaries, saying they would get ‘$0 if my bid succeeds’.

It comes as the social media giant filed its ‘poison pill’ defense with the Securities and Exchange Commission today in a bid to thwart the Tesla founder.

The plan is being seen as a last ditch attempt to prevent Musk from increasing his stake in the company further following his $43billion bid last week.

Meanwhile Jack Dorsey took aim at the firm’s board, slamming it for ‘plots and coups’ that were ‘consistently the dysfunction of the company’.

In a series of tweets and replies, Twitter’s former CEO endorsed one posting saying that ‘a bad board will kill a company every time’.

Musk, the world’s richest man, currently owns a 9.2 per cent stake in the tech giant and is trying to take it private with an unsolicited bid of $54.20 per share.

But bosses have reportedly brought on Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to advise it on how to respond to his bid. 

Musk’s tweet on Saturday afternoon was his latest hint he will bypass Twitter’s board and put his offer directly to shareholders.

On Thursday, following a TED talk appearance, he tweeted: ‘It would be utterly indefensible not to put this offer to a shareholder vote.’

He later added that the board’s ‘economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders’.

Twitter on Monday filed its ‘poison pill’ plan with the SEC as it cemented its attempt to block Musk from executing the $43 billion hostile takeover.

The document says: ‘In connection with the adoption of the Rights Agreement, on April 15, 2022 the Board approved a Certificate of Designation of Rights, Preferences and Privileges of Series A Participating Preferred Stock (the ”Certificate of Designation”) setting forth the rights, powers and preferences of the Preferred Stock.

‘The Certificate of Designation was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on April 18, 2022.’

The strategy, announced on Friday, triggers a dilution of company shares if any shareholder builds up a 15 per cent stake without the board’s approval.

But it does not prevent Twitter from accepting Musk’s offer or entering negotiations with him or other potential buyers.

Yet it will stop the billionaire from putting pressure on the board by buying up ever more shares on the open market.

Twitter said its ‘poison pill’ plan is ‘similar to other plans adopted by publicly held companies in comparable circumstances’. 

It said: ‘The Rights Plan will reduce the likelihood that any entity, person or group gains control of Twitter through open market accumulation without paying all shareholders an appropriate control premium.’

It means if Musk or any other person or group acquires at least 15 per cent of Twitter’s stock, the ‘poison’ pill will be triggered.

Every other shareholder aside from Musk would be allowed to purchase new shares at half the market price, which stood at $45.08 at the closing bell on Thursday.

The flood of half-price shares would effectively dilute his ownership stake, making it massively more expensive for him to build up a controlling position.

Twitter said its board had voted unanimously in favor of the plan, which will remain in effect until April 14, 2023.