Elon Musk Says 'Will Defeat Spam Bots Or Die Trying' If His Twitter Bid Succeeds

Under 'tender offer', Musk, who owns about 9 per cent of Twitter shares, would consider taking his offer directly to other shareholders, bypassing the board.

Twitter logo displayed on a smartphone with Elon Musk's official Twitter profile (Getty Image)

New Delhi: After Tesla CEO Elon Musk disclosed securing $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter Inc, and that he is aiming to start a tender offer for its shares, the business magnate tweeted on Friday that he will "defeat the spam bots or die trying” if their Twitter bid goes through.

If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2022

“And authenticate all real humans,” Musk said in a subsequent tweet.

Last week, the Tesla CEO announced the proposal to buy the microblogging site for $54.20 per share in cash. However, the board of directors issued a new “shareholder rights plan” to block Musk’s offer in a bid to prevent the billionaire’s efforts to take full control of the company.

In the documents filed with US securities regulators, Musk Thursday shared details about exploring "tender offer" to buy all of the social media platform's common stock for $54.20 per share in cash. It means Musk, who owns about 9 per cent of Twitter shares, would consider taking his offer directly to other shareholders, bypassing the board.

However, Musk hasn't decided yet whether to do that. The documents said the company has not responded to Musk's proposal.

Elaborating about financing, Musk said that $13 billion came from Morgan Stanley and the other banks, as much as $12.5 billion would be loans secured by his Tesla stock, and committed $21 billion in equity, “directly or indirectly” from him, although he didn’t specify about the source of those funds, according to the news agency AP.

The filing says that the equity commitment could be reduced by contributions from others or additional debt taken on.