‘Twitter Has Always Been For Sale’: Jack Dorsey Reacts to Elon Musk’s Hostile Takeover Bid

Twitter’s Board of Directors stated on Friday that it would implement a so-called “poison oil” plan to stall or prevent Elon Musk’s hostile takeover bid after the Tesla CEO announced his buyout offer worth $43 billion.

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, has waded into the drama surrounding Elon Musk’s attempted hostile takeover bid of the social media platform.

After the billionaire tech guru revealed that since initially acquiring 9.2 percent of shares in the microblogging platform he was prepared to offer $43 billion to complete the deal, Dorsey initially refrained from offering a comment.

However, on Saturday Dorsey took to Twitter to answer questions posed by a Twitter user, specifically, “Was Musk investing contingent on Dorsey leaving? Did Dorsey leave because of Musk?”

The American Internet entrepreneur and philanthropist, who is the former CEO of Twitter, replied curtly, “No”.

He stated on his Twitter account that the public company had “always been for sale”.

“That’s the real issue. I wasn’t pushed out. I left”, wrote Dorsey.

as a public company, twitter has always been "for sale." that's the real issue.

— jack⚡️ (@jack) April 15, 2022

In announcing his surprise resignation from the platform via a Twitter post back in November 2021, Jack Dorsey had said: “Not sure anyone has heard, but I resigned from Twitter”. He was replaced by chief technology officer Parag Agrawal.

Tussle For Twitter

Earlier this month, when it appeared that the world’s “richest man” according to Forbes was due to become a board member of Twitter, Jack Dorsey signalled support for the move, saying:

“I’m really happy Elon is joining the Twitter board! He cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it. Parag [Agrawal] and Elon both lead with their hearts, and they will be an incredible team”.

Musk, worth $260bn (£200bn), revealed this month that he held a 9.2 percent stake in the social media platform, becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder. However, on 11 April, Twitter’s chief executive, Parag Agrawal, said Musk had declined a boardroom offer.

“I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input”, Agrawal stated.

Shortly after, on 13 April, in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing documenting his bid, Elon Musk confirmed he intended to purchase Twitter in its entirety, adding, “I don’t have confidence in [Twitter’s current] management”.

In response to Musk’s bid, Twitter’s board put in place a “poison pill” strategy, according to a Friday press release.

The move, given the green light “following an unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire Twitter", would allow the company to flood the market with new shares or offer discounted shares to shareholders if an entity amassed more than a 15 percent stake.

Nevertheless, there are conversations between Musk and investors on the issue, sources told the New York Post, saying that, “This is not over”.

One option reportedly being considered would see Elon Musk and private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners lunch a bid to take control of Twitter. Silver Lake Partners’ Co-CEO, Egon Durban, is a Twitter board member. There has not been any comment from Silver Lake.