Elon Musk offers glimpse of possible change he could bring to Twitter
Twitter adopted a plan Friday that could prevent Musk from buying the platform
Twitter adopts 'poison pill' to stymie takeover by Elon Musk
'The Claman Countdown' anchor Liz Claman and FOX Business senior correspondent Charlie Gasparino react to the 'stunning' developments.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that Twitter could be heading toward a "long form tweet" function if he is able to successfully purchase control of the company.
"My most immediate takeaway from this novella of a thread is that Twitter is *way* overdue for long form tweets!" Musk tweeted Friday in response to a lengthy thread about policing free speech on social media.
Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The thread, posted by engineer and entrepreneur Yishan Wong outlined his belief that Musk is in for a "world of pain" if he is able to purchase Twitter.
"Elon is going to try like heck to ‘fix’ the problems he sees," Wong said in the thread that was dozens of tweets long. "Each problem he ‘fixes’ will just cause 3 more problems."
Musk's response to the Twitter thread comes as his offer to purchase the social media giant for $43 billion hit a potential snag when the company adopted a "poison pill" plan to prevent his takeover.
(Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Under the new plan, shareholders' rights will become exercisable if an entity, person or group acquires beneficial ownership of 15% or more of Twitter's outstanding common stock in a transaction not approved by the board. In the event that the rights become exercisable, shareholders will be entitled to purchase additional shares of common stock at a discounted rate.
The board says the plan "is intended to enable all shareholders to realize the full value of their investment in Twitter" and 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 or without providing the Board sufficient time to make informed judgments and take actions that are in the best interests of shareholders."
The plan, which will expire on April 14, 2023, does not prevent Twitter's board from engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal if they believe it is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.
Musk's $43 billion bid comes less than two weeks after he disclosed a 9.2% stake in Twitter on April 4. Though Musk was initially invited to join Twitter's board, he later declined the offer. As part of joining the board, Musk would have been unable to own more than 14.9% of Twitter's stock while serving on the board or for 90 days after. Musk's board term would have expired at Twitter’s 2024 annual meeting.
((Photo by Patrick Pleul - Pool/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Though Elon Musk has said that the offer is his "best and final" one, he revealed at TED2022 on Thursday that he is prepared with a plan B. When asked for specific details, he declined to elaborate.
Musk tweeted earlier this week that it "would be utterly indefensible not to put this offer to a shareholder vote."
"They own the company, not the board of directors," Musk said.
Fox News' Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report