Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2025

What is Twitter’s ‘poison pill’ and what is it supposed to do?

What is Twitter’s ‘poison pill’ and what is it supposed to do?

On Friday, Twitter’s board showed it will not go quietly after Musk offered to buy the company.

Twitter is trying to thwart billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover attempt with a “poison pill”, a financial device that companies have been wielding against unwelcome suitors for decades.

On Thursday, Musk offered to buy Twitter with the revelation coming just days after the Tesla CEO said he would no longer be joining the social media company’s board of directors.

He offered $54.2 per share of Twitter’s stock, calling the price his best and final offer.

On Friday, Twitter’s board showed it will not go quietly, saying any acquisition of more than 15 percent of the firm’s stock without its approval would trigger a plan to flood the market with shares and thus make a buyout much harder.

What are poison pills supposed to do?


The ingredients of each poison pill vary, but they are all designed to give corporate boards an option to flood the market with so much newly created stock that a takeover becomes prohibitively expensive.

The strategy was popularised in the 1980s when publicly held companies were being stalked by corporate raiders such as Carl Icahn – now more frequently described as “activist investors”.

Twitter did not disclose the details of its poison pill on Friday but said it would provide more information in a forthcoming filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which the company delayed because public markets were closed on Friday.

Musk currently holds a roughly 9 percent stake.

Can a poison pill be a negotiating ploy?


Although they are supposed to help prevent an unsolicited takeover, poison pills also often open the door to further negotiations that can force a bidder to sweeten the deal.

If a higher price makes sense to the board, a poison pill can simply be cast aside along with the acrimony it provoked, clearing the way for a sale to be completed.

True to form, Twitter left its door open by emphasising that its poison pill will not prevent its board from “engaging with parties or accepting an acquisition proposal” at a higher price.

Adopting a poison pill also frequently results in lawsuits alleging that a corporate board and management team is using the tactic to keep their jobs against the best interests of shareholders.


How did Musk react to Twitter’s announcement?


Musk, with 82 million followers on Twitter, had no immediate reaction to the company’s poison pill.

But on Thursday he indicated he was ready to wage a legal battle.

“If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty,” Musk tweeted. “The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale.”

Musk has publicly said his $43bn bid is his best and final offer for Twitter, but other corporate suitors have made similar statements before ultimately upping the ante.

With an estimated fortune of $265bn, Musk would seem to have deep enough pockets to raise his offer, although he is still working out how to finance the proposed purchase.

Musk also questioned Saudi Arabia’s role in Twitter Inc after the kingdom’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal tweeted his opposition to the billionaire entrepreneur’s offer to buy the social media company.

The prince tweeted on Thursday that Musk’s offer does not come close to the “intrinsic value” of Twitter.

“Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer,” the prince said, referring to the Saudi Arabia-based Kingdom Holding Company, which he owns.

Musk responded to the tweet, asking how much of Twitter, directly and indirectly, was owned by Saudi Arabia.

“What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?” Musk added.


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
×