Tesla chief Elon Musk who offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion for $54.20/share in cash is no longer the largest shareholder.
Apparently, American registered investment advisor Vanguard Group, on April 8, disclosed that it now owns 82.4 million shares of Twitter, which means 10.3 percent of the company, according to the most recent publicly available filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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As per the filing, the asset-manager increased its stake in the company at some point during the first quarter.
According to the The Wall Street Journal report, Vanguard’s holdings are now worth $3.78 billion, based on Twitter stock’s closing price on April 13.
The journal further added that "Vanguard isn't making a directional bet on Twitter…Instead, the majority of its assets are in index and other so-called passive funds. The firm often sides with management on voting issues and doesn't advocate for changes like a hedge fund or activist investor might."
Vanguard owned approx. 70.4 million Twitter shares as of last December, constituting 8.8 per cent of all outstanding shares, it reported.
Musk's filing to US authorities on the proposal offered an idea of what he'd do if rejected: "My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder."
Last week, he disclosed a purchase of 73.5 million shares -- or 9.2 percent -- of Twitter's common stock, which ignited a roller-coaster of events, including his refusal to join the company's board.
In his comments Thursday, Musk reiterated his statements that the aim of his bid was to promote freedom of speech on Twitter.
"This is not a way to make money," he said.
"My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don't care about economics at all," he added.
Meanwhile, Musk said that he's not sure his $43 billion bid to buy Twitter will succeed, but asserted he has a "plan B" in case of failure.
In his first spoken comments since the shock offer became public, Musk downplayed his concerns over money, though assembling the funding for an all-cash offer of this size is never simple.
The world's richest person would need to part with some of his mountains of Tesla stock if his offer gets board backing -- which is not guaranteed.
"I'm not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it," Elon Musk told a conference in Canada, referring to Twitter. He went on to note that money wasn't the primary issue, saying "I could technically afford it."
Musk acknowledged he has a "plan B" if his offer fails, but refused to elaborate when pressed.
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