According to Tuesday’s regulatory filing, Twitter’s board unanimously recommended that shareholders approve the $44 billion sale to Elon Musk (billionaire) according to a Tuesday regulatory filing.
Musk reiterated his desire for the acquisition to proceed last week in a virtual meeting of Twitter employees. However, shares of Twitter are still far below Musk’s offering price, signaling that investors are skeptical that it will happen.
Musk spoke out about Tuesday’s approval by shareholders of the deal at the Qatar Economic Forum.
On Tuesday, Twitter’s board stated in a filing to the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission that it had sent a letter to investors recommending that they “unanimously vote (for the) adoption of the merger agreement.” Investors in the company would make $15.22 per share if the deal was to be closed now.
Twitter Inc. shares rose 1% Tuesday morning. They hovered around $38, well below the $54.20 per-share Musk offered. When Musk offered to buy Twitter, the company’s stock reached this level for the first time on April 5. Musk declined the seat on the board the day before he was to become an official member. Parag Agrawal, the CEO of Twitter, did not explain Musk’s decision to resign. He stated only that it was “for our best.”
Musk said Tuesday in a Bloomberg interview that Tesla would be cutting its salaried workforce by approximately 10% over the next three-months. Musk first spoke out about layoffs at Tesla in June. He said that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy and wanted to reduce jobs at Tesla. Musk expressed his concern at the forum in Qatar regarding the possibility that there will be a recession. Musk stated that it was not certain, but more likely than not.
Tesla’s stock lost almost one-third its value since April 1, shortly after Musk suggested that he would buy Twitter. According to a May filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla employs approximately 100,000 salaried and hourly workers around the world. Bloomberg reports that a reduction in the Musk project’s size would lead to 3,000-3,000 job losses.
As the U.S. economy slows, many technology companies that grew during the pandemic are now closing their doors and laying off employees.
