New Delhi: A member of the royal family from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has said that Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter, the microblogging platform, is too low, according to reports by AFP.
In a tweet, Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, on Friday (April 15), rejected Musk’s offer.
“I don't believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects,” the Saudi prince tweeted. “Being one of the largest and long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC and I reject this offer.”
Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) is an investment holding firm led by Talal.
In his response, Tesla CEO Musk asked the Saudi royal two questions. “How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly?" he asked. "What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?"
According to news reports, Saudi Arabia, which ranks among the countries with the least amount of press freedom and frequently known to jail critics, had hit the headlines in 2018 after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who US intelligence agencies say was killed on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s order.
Musk (50), the world’s richest person, in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, made an offer to buy 100 per cent of Twitter at $54.20 per share in an all-cash transaction.
According to Musk’s offer, the approximate valuation of Twitter stands at $43 billion, which would be about one-sixth of his $250.6 billion fortune. He made the offer after disclosing that he had purchased 73.5 million shares, or 9.2 per cent, of Twitter's common stock.
Twitter has said that it is reviewing Musk's offer.
Meanwhile, the billionaire says he not sure if he will succeed in taking over the company. "I could technically afford it," Musk said, adding that he has a plan B if the offer falls through.