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Friday, April 15, 2022

Twitter shareholder Saudi Prince Al Waleed rejects Elon Musk’s bid to buy the company

Mr Musk is currently Twitter’s biggest shareholder as he recently bought over 73 million shares.

• April 14, 2022
Elon Musk and Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud
Elon Musk and Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud

Saudi Arabian billionaire and Twitter shareholder Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud has turned down Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s offer to buy out social media company.

Mr Al Saud, a majority owner and chairman of the Kingdom Holding Company, also invested in News Corp, Citigroup, and the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

“I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects. Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, Kingdom Holding Company & I reject this offer,” Mr Al Saud said in a tweet on Thursday.

Mr Al Saud’s comments come after Twitter management held a meeting with employees following Mr Elon Musk’s offer to take over the platform.

Mr Al Saud has in 2011 invested $300 million in the social network, and owns 34.9 million shares of Twitter’s stock, according to the regulatory filing.

On Thursday morning, Mr Musk offered to buy social media company Twitter for $41.4 billion. Mr Musk described the offer as “best and final.”

Mr Musk has often criticised Twitter’s policies over targeted misinformation, calls for violence, harassment and conspiracy theories. He has often been accused of manipulating the markets using his tweets.

In 2018, Mr Musk was accused of fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after he tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private for $420 a share. Mr Musk and Tesla paid a $20 million settlement in the suit and he was required to have company lawyers examine his tweets before being sent.

Mr Musk is currently Twitter’s biggest shareholder as he recently bought over 73 million shares. The company’s second-biggest shareholder is The Vanguard Group Inc., owning an 8.39 per cent and Morgan Stanley owning a 8.08 per cent stake. 

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