Twitter Board Recommends $44 Billion Sale To Billionaire Elon Musk

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter's board has recommended that its shareholders approve the $44 billion sale to Elon Musk, the eccentric, billionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX.

The recommendation came in a regulatory filing Tuesday, in which the company said its board of directors unanimously determined the merger agreement "is advisable and the merger and the other transactions contemplated by the merger agreement are fair to, advisable and in the best interests of Twitter and its stockholders."

Twitter’s Board of Directors unanimously recommended that shareholders vote to adopt the merger agreement and for compensation of $54.20 in cash for each share of stock.

"This amount constitutes a premium of approximately 38 percent to the closing price of our common stock on April 1, 2022, which was the last full trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately nine percent stake in Twitter," the company said.

If the deal were to close now, investors would earn a profit of $15.22 for each share they own, Associated Press reported.

Musk, who threatened to torpedo the deal over doubts about the number of spam and fake Twitter accounts, said three hurdles remain before he can buy the platform. Musk said he wants Twitter to clarify how many users are real. Twitter estimated that fewer than 5 percent of its daily active users are fake, but Musk doubts the figure. He said Tuesday that is “probably not most people’s experience when using Twitter," CNBC reported.

“We’re still awaiting a resolution on that matter, and that is a very significant matter,” Musk said.

Because much of Musk's wealth lies in Tesla stock, he must obtain financing for the purchase. He pledged $33.5 billion in cash and has received about $7 billion in equity financing commitments from other investors. The remaining money must come from bank loans, Musk said, according to CNBC.

The deal's third hurdle is getting shareholders to sign off on it.