Elon Musk, the South African billionaire and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has made a bold move to acquire Twitter outright, offering to buy all remaining shares at $54.20 each. The offer represents a 54% premium over Twitter's share price before Musk began investing and a 38% premium over the day prior to his public investment. Following the announcement, Twitter shares jumped 18% in pre-market trading, reaching $45.85 at press time.

Musk’s bid comes shortly after he declined a seat on Twitter’s board. In a letter to Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor, filed with the SEC, Musk outlined his reasoning: "I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy." He argued that Twitter would not thrive or serve this societal purpose in its current form, making privatization necessary. Musk described his offer as his "best and final offer," warning that he may reconsider his shareholder position if it is not accepted.

The 50-year-old entrepreneur stressed that taking Twitter private is critical to implement necessary changes. He stated, "It's simply not a good investment without the changes that need to be made. And those changes won’t happen without taking the company private." Musk expressed confidence in the platform’s “extraordinary potential” and his ability to unlock it.

Twitter’s board confirmed that it had received Musk’s proposal and would review it carefully, noting that any decision would serve the best interests of "all Twitter stockholders." Based on the company’s 763.58 million shares outstanding, the deal is valued at approximately $43 billion, well below Musk’s estimated net worth of $260 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. By comparison, Twitter’s market capitalization is around $37 billion.