A new rival has emerged to challenge Elon Musk's attempt to take over Twitter.
Musk revealed Thursday he's willing to shell out $43 billion to ensure the social media giant becomes the premier “platform for free speech.”
The Tesla and SpaceX boss added that this wasn't about making money. Speaking at the TED2022 conference, Musk said, “My strong, intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. I don't care about economics at all.”
After initial attempts to derail the bid failed, a private equity company, Thoma Bravo, announced it's working on its own offer for Twitter to compete with Musk.
As the New York Post reports:
It's not clear how much Thoma Bravo might bid or when it might make an offer. The firm has an internal team working on the potential transaction, the source familiar with the matter told The Post.
“You are not far off,” a second source close to the situation said when asked by The Post if Thoma Bravo was working on a possible bid for Twitter.
Thoma Bravo could be a white knight for the company and CEO Parag Argawal, one of the sources said.
While popular with millions, Musk's move sparked a fierce backlash almost immediately.
Earlier this week, one of Twitter's largest and long-term shareholders, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, urged the company's board to reject Musk's offer out of hand.
Musk had a harsh response to the royal.
At roughly the same time, the battle for Twitter's future took another interesting turn Thursday. Asset manager Vanguard Group confirmed in a filing with the Security and Exchange Commission that it owns a 10.3% stake in the company, making it — not Musk — the largest shareholder.
Speaking to Chris Anderson at TED2022, Musk admitted he's “not sure” if his takeover bid will be successful. When asked by Anderson if there was a “Plan B” if his offer were rejected, the world's richest man said, “there is.”
