In a letter to Twitter’s board,Elon Musk said the company “needs to be transformed”.

In a letter to Twitter’s board,Elon Musk said the company “needs to be transformed”.Credit:AP

Speaking at a TED conference in Vancouver hours after announcing his offer to buy the social media platform,Musk said he believed Twitter’s algorithm should be open-source and suggested the code behind it should be available on Github,a Microsoft-owned platform for sharing code for software development.

And while he admitted that he wasn’t sure his bid would succeed,he insisted there was a “Plan B” - although he did not provide any details.

“I think it’s very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech,” Musk said,when asked by TED Conferences curator Chris Anderson why he made the bid.

“It’s damn annoying when someone you don’t like says something you don’t like. But that is the sign of a healthy free speech situation.”

“Having a public platform that is massively trusted,and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don’t care about the economics at all.”

Musk,who is already the San Francisco-based company’s second-largest shareholder,made his offer public in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday,after turning down a potential board seat at the company. Under the plan,he will pay $US54.20 a share in cash,representing a 54 per cent premium over the January 28 closing price and a value of about $US43 billion ($57.7 billion).

Elon Musk’s bid is seen as far too low.

Elon Musk’s bid is seen as far too low.Credit:AP

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Twitter said that its board would examine the proposal,which Musk described in the filing as his “best and final offer”.

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“The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders,” it said in a statement.

The companies shares today traded well below the $54.20 offer price,suggesting some scepticism over the deal,while Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal,a major Twitter shareholder,said Musk’s offer doesn’t come “close” to being adequate.

The bid is the latest saga in Musk’s volatile relationship with Twitter. The 50-year-old is the richest man in the world,valued at $259 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He is also one of the platform’s most-watched figures,often tweeting out memes and taunts to his 80 million-plus followers. After being outspoken about changes he’d like to impose on the social media giant,and the company offered him a seat on the board following the announcement of his stake,which made him the largest individual shareholder.

By taking the company private,Musk will have capacity to make widespread reform,which some have speculated could involve lifting the ban on former US president Donald Trump. Trump was blocked from using the platform early last year,shortly after the attack on the US Capitol building.

But if the deal doesn’t work,Musk has told the company he would need to reconsider his position as a shareholder “given that I don’t have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market.

Musk himself expressed doubts about the likely success of his bid on Friday,telling the TED talk in Vancouver:“I am not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it.

He also said:“I don’t like losing. I’m not sure many people do. But the truth matters to me a lot.”

Asked how he would respond to those who did not believe the world’s richest person should own Twitter - and if there was any way he could distance himself from the decision-making when it comes to content - he replied:“I think it’s very important that the algorithm be open source and that any manual adjustments be identified so if someone does something to a tweet,then there’s information attached to it (showing) that action was taken.

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“I won’t personally be in there editing tweets,” he joked.

Musk informed Twitter’s board over the previous weekend that he thought the company should be taken private,according to Thursday’s statement.

The $US54.20 per share offer is “too low” for shareholders or the board to accept,said Vital Knowledge’s Adam Crisafulli in a report,adding that the company’s shares hit $US70 less than a year ago.

with Bloomberg

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