Twitter shares rise on reports company will accept Elon Musk's takeover bid
The Tesla CEO 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.
Musk has said he wants to buy Twitter because he doesn't feel it's living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.
Twitter shares have climbed at the open of Wall Street trading amid reports the company will soon accept Elon Musk's takeover offer, though indices generally declined.
About 10 minutes into trading, Twitter stock was trading 3.7 percent higher on Monday. However the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was down 0.5 percent at 12,778.57, and the broad-based S&P 500 had lost 0.7 percent to 4,240.83.
The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 0.5 percent to 33,639.01.
Earlier, the New York Times reported Twitter’s board and Tesla CEO Musk negotiated over his bid to buy the social media platform.
The Times, citing people with knowledge of the situation who it did not identify, said on Monday the two sides were discussing details including a timeline and fees if an agreement was signed and then fell apart.
The people said the situation was fluid and fast-moving.
Last week, Twitter had enacted an anti-takeover measure known as a poison pill that could make a takeover attempt prohibitively expensive.
But the board decided to negotiate after Musk updated his proposal to show he had secured financing, according to The Wall Street Journal, which was first to report the negotiations were underway.
Free speech
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 week, he said in documents filed with US securities regulators that the money would come from Morgan Stanley and other banks, some of it secured by his huge stake in the electric car maker.
In recent weeks, he has voiced a number of proposed changes for the company, from relaxing its content restrictions – such as the rules that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account – to ridding the platform of its problems with fake and automated 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 percent of the company, according to FactSet, which is valued at more than $1 trillion – and SpaceX, his privately held space company. It’s unclear how much cash Musk has.
READ MORE: Twitter adopts 'poison pill' defence to make 'coercive' takeover difficult
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