Financial Associated Press (Shanghai, editor Xiaoxiang) news, as a "Twitter celebrity", Tesla CEO Musk has always liked to publish some obscure or even pun-like tweets on social media, so that investors and fans who follow him have to try to figure out his true intentions. Earlier this year, he quoted the "seven-step poem" of the ancient Chinese poet Cao Zhi, which once triggered a hot discussion on the Internet.
Over the weekend, Musk, who was tireless, once again posted a vague and magical tweet on his personal Twitter. This time, he's quoting a classic song by American pop king Elvis Presley (Elvis Presley) based on his film of the same name in 1956: "Love Me Tender" (Love Me Tender).
As soon as the tweet was posted, it once again attracted widespread attention. As of press time, the tweet has reached 23,000 retweets and 354,000 likes.
Last Thursday, musk's proposal to buy Twitter wholly for $54.20 per share, totaling $43 billion, had just caused an uproar on Wall Street. In the face of the hostile acquisition that Musk may take, Twitter has immediately announced the "poison pill" plan to block Musk. This will allow the company's original shareholders to obtain a large number of shares in the company at a lower price, thereby driving up the cost of the acquirer.
Obviously, the subtext that Musk's latest tweet wants to express is probably not as simple as the literal meaning of the song itself - in English, Tender can not only be used as an adjective to mean "gentle and kind", but also as a verb to express the meaning of "bid to buy" or "bid"...
In this regard, Bloomberg analysis pointed out that if Twitter's board of directors finally rejects Musk's acquisition proposal, the world will know whether Musk is really threatening to directly attract more shareholders to join the acquisition drama, or just add this golden song to his playlist.
Bloomberg intelligence analysts Mandeep Singh and Ashley Kim wrote on Friday that given that private equity firms such as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Thomas Bravo are members of Twitter's board, Musk may try to work with investors such as Oracle. They write that such a partnership could eventually raise Musk's bid to $50 billion.
At present, almost all Wall Street people are paying close attention to Musk's acquisition of Twitter, and a business war version of the "Military Division Alliance" is also quietly playing out among Wall Street investment banks.
According to people familiar with the matter, Twitter hired a second investment bank, JPMorgan Chase, over the weekend to help it deal with Musk's hostile takeover. Prior to this, it was reported that Twitter also hired Goldman Sachs to provide consulting services for its acquisition of Musk. At the same time, on Musk's side, it is natural that the Wall Street "think tank" is indispensable. According to a filing filed last Thursday, Morgan Stanley is advising Musk.
Since Musk first disclosed his 9.2 percent stake in Twitter on April 4, Twitter's stock price has risen by about 15 percent cumulatively, but as of the close of trading on April 14, the company's stock price was still well below Musk's bid, reflecting doubts about the success of the deal.
Tesla shares fell 9.2 percent over the same period, also reflecting investors' fears that Tesla's bosses could be distracted by the takeover drama.
In fact, even without the pill clause and the defensive strategy of the company's board, the jury is still far from certain. Musk said on Friday that he was "not sure" if he would actually be able to buy the company, adding that he had a backup Plan B but did not provide specifics.
Interestingly, though, Musk's idea of acquiring Twitter may have been brewing in his mind for a long time. As early as December 2017, Musk tweeted about his interest in Twitter and asked about its value.
And on Saturday, Musk used an upside-down smile emoji to review the tweets from more than four years ago.