Twitter board still evaluating Elon Musk's offer, chief executive says

Company says it is involved in 'rigorous process' to determine what is best for shareholders

Mr Musk unveils a new all-wheel-drive version of the Model S car in Hawthorne, California, in 2014. Reuters

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Getty Images

Mr Musk with music producer Quincy Jones. AFP

The wealthiest person in the world with a worth of $274.3 billion, Mr Musk was named 'Person of the Year' by 'Time' magazine in 2021. Getty Images

Focus on Mr Musk's taxes grew last year as Tesla achieved a rarefied $1 trillion in market value. Reuters

The billionaire has hit back, saying he does not draw a salary from either SpaceX or Tesla, and pays an effective tax rate of 53 per cent on stock options he exercises. AFP

Then US president Barack Obama speaks to Mr Musk on a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2010. Reuters

Mr Musk during a television interview after Tesla's initial public offering at the Nasdaq market in New York, in 2010. Reuters

With former wife Talulah Riley at the 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards in London. Getty Images

With Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe after a test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D in Palo Alto, California, in 2015. Reuters

Mr Musk during the 67th International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016. EPA

From left: SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, Corning chief executive Wendell Weeks, then US president Donald Trump and Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky during a meeting at the White House. AFP

Mr Musk and former wife Grimes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in 2018. AFP

Mr Musk leaves a court in New York City, in 2019, after a hearing in a lawsuit brought against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Getty Images

A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is seen before Mr Musk gives an update on the company's Mars rocket Starship in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2019. Reuters

Mr Musk at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, last year. EPA

Dancing onstage during a delivery event for Tesla's China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai. Reuters

Mikey Day as a lawyer, Cecily Strong as a judge, and host Elon Musk as Wario during the "Wario" sketch on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', in May. Getty Images

Mr Musk with Armin Laschet, CDU party federal chairman and prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, talk during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide, near Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal told employees that the board is still evaluating the offer tabled by the world's richest man, Elon Musk, to buy the company and take it private.

Employees raised questions about potential scenarios at a staff meeting on Thursday afternoon, and Mr Agrawal’s tone was neutral, said sources.

He did not indicate which direction the board was leaning, calling it a “rigorous process” to determine what is in the best interest of shareholders, the sources said.

Chief marketing officer Leslie Berland read Twitter employees’ questions submitted via Slack at the meeting.

No other board members, including co-founder and former chief executive Jack Dorsey, addressed the group. The meeting lasted about 30 minutes, they said.

Twitter declined to comment. The company’s board held an emergency meeting on Thursday morning to debate possible responses to Mr Musk’s offer — including a poison pill, a measure companies typically use to protect themselves from hostile takeovers.

Mr Musk, the billionaire co-founder and chief executive of electric car maker Tesla, offered to buy 100 per cent of Twitter for about $43bn, according to a regulatory filing.

Twitter could announce the poison pill as soon as tomorrow, sources said. Another scenario under consideration is saying that the offer is too low, according to one person.

A poison pill defense strategy allows existing shareholders the right to purchase additional shares at a discount, effectively diluting the ownership interest of the hostile party. Poison pills are common among companies under fire from activist investors or in hostile takeover situations.

At least one prominent investor, though, said Mr Musk's offer was too low and the market reaction appeared to agree. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said the deal doesn’t “come close to the intrinsic value” of the popular social media platform.

Speaking later Thursday at a TED conference, Mr Musk said he wasn’t sure he “will actually be able to acquire it”. He added that his intent was to also retain “as many shareholders as is allowed by the law”, rather than keeping sole ownership of the company himself.