Reports: Twitter in talks with Musk over bid to buy platform

Twitter’s board and Tesla CEO Elon Musk negotiated into the early hours of Monday over his bid to buy the social media platform, The New York Times reported.

Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal.

The Times cited people who were not identified as having knowledge of the matter and said that the two sides were discussing details, including the timeline and fees, in case an agreement was not reached. According to the people, the situation was fluid and moving quickly.

Twitter had passed a measure to prevent takeovers. This was known as the poison pill. It could make a takeover expensive. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk’s proposal was updated to show that he had secured financing. The board decided to negotiate.

On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy the social media platform for $54. 20 per share, or about $43 billion, but did not say at the time how he would finance the acquisition.

Last Wednesday, he stated in documents filed with U.S. Securities regulators that the money would be coming from Morgan Stanley and other banks. Some of this was secured by his large stake in the electric car manufacturer.

Twitter did not comment.

Musk stated that he wants Twitter to be bought because he doesn’t believe it’s living up its potential as a platform of free speech.

Musk has made a number of suggestions for changes to the company in recent weeks. These include easing its content restrictions (such as those that suspended President Donald Trump’s account) and eliminating fake accounts.

Musk is the world’s wealthiest person, according to Forbes, with a nearly $279 billion fortune. But much of his money is tied up in Tesla stock — he owns about 17% of the company, according to FactSet, which is valued at more than $1 trillion — and SpaceX, his privately held space company. It is not clear how much cash Musk has.