Elon Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder last week. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO was set to join Twitter’s board of directors but then backed out.
According to a regulatory filing issued Wednesday, the world’s richest person is now willing to buy the company for $43 billion in cash, or $54.20 per share.
Musk claims that he believes in Twitter’s potential and that the social media platform has to be altered.
“My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder,” Musk said in the filing. (He holds more than 9% of Twitter’s shares.) “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it,” Musk added.
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said.
Musk made the “unsolicited” offer to Twitter, according to the company.
The board of directors “will carefully consider the proposal to determine the course of action that it feels is in the best interest of the Business and all Twitter stockholders,” the company said in a statement.
Musk’s offer of $54.20 a share is 38% higher than the value of the Twitter stock the day before his investment was publicly publicized and 18.2 percent higher than the closing price on Wednesday. In the early Thursday morning trade, Twitter shares were up more than 2%.
A Twitter shareholder filed a securities fraud case against Musk earlier this week, alleging that his late disclosure of his Twitter ownership cost investors money and saved Musk $143 million.