One of the key Twitter investors Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal rejecting world’s richest man Elon Musk’s offer to acquire in cash the social media platform did not go well with the latter and resulted in the Tesla chief seeking exposition of the Kingdom on “freedom of speech” for journalists.
Prince Alwaleed in a Tweet said, “I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk ($54.20 per share) comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects.”
The tweet from the Saudi prince prompted a quick response from Musk, who asked how many shares the investor held in Twitter and what the Kingdom has to say on freedom of speech for journalists.
Alwaleed is the richest individual in Saudi Arabia, with $16.5 billion fortune, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Most of his wealth is derived from his 95 percent ownership of Kingdom Holding Company.
According to a 2015 regulatory filing seen by news agency Bloomberg, Alwaleed along with his Kingdom Holding company owned 5.2 percent stake in Twitter. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates the position is now at 4.4 percent.
Musk now holds 9.2 percent stake in Twitter and is no more its largest shareholder. Funds held by Vanguard Group recently upped their stake in the social media platform, becoming its largest shareholder.
Musk took aim at Twitter Inc with a $43 billion cash takeover offer on Thursday, with the Tesla CEO saying the social media giant needs to be taken private to grow and become a platform for free speech.
Vanguard disclosed on April 8 that it now owns 82.4 million shares of Twitter or 10.3 percent of the company, according to the most recent publicly available filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, The Wall Street Journal reported.
