Twitter plans “poison pill” if Musk tries takeover

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The social media giant’s board of directors will make defensive moves if Elon Musk tries to increase his stake in Twitter from 9 percent to 15 percent or more. The billionaire and CEO of Tesla announced Thursday he wants to buy the publicly traded company outright for $43 billion. Musk wants to take Twitter private and reform its censorship practices, a move he says would protect free speech.

How would Twitter’s plan work? It would allow existing Twitter shareholders (except Musk) to buy additional shares at a discount, thereby diluting Musk’s stake in the company and making it harder for him to gain support for his acquisition from a majority of shareholders. The plan is set to expire next year.

Dig deeper: Read Jerry Bowyer’s column for WORLD Opinions about how Musk could transform Twitter.

Lynde Langdon

Lynde is WORLD’s executive editor for news. She is a graduate of World Journalism Institute, the Missouri School of Journalism, and the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Lynde resides with her family in Wichita, Kan.

@lmlangdon