Twitter surges as Musk offers to make deal – Reuters

Oct 4 (Reuters) – Shares of Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) jumped on Tuesday after billionaire Elon Musk offered to pursue its takeover of the social media platform at $54.20 a share. Read more

Twitter jumped more than 22% to close at $52.00 after a securities filing showed Musk intended to pursue his $44 billion April bid to take Twitter private, signaling the end of a legal battle that could have forced Musk to pay. Musk is also chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).

Tesla gained 2.9% to $249.44, down from an earlier high of $257.50.

Earlier, Twitter’s actions were halted after a Bloomberg News report on Musk’s plans.

More than $27 billion worth of Tesla shares have been traded, the highest turnover for the electric vehicle since mid-August, according to Refinitiv data.

Musk and Twitter were due to enter the courtroom this month, with Twitter seeking an order directing Musk to follow through on his agreement last April to buy the company at the agreed price. Musk tore up the deal in August, saying he was misled about the number of spam accounts on Twitter.

Tesla shares have been under pressure since Musk agreed to buy Twitter, with investors worried about how much stock in the automaker he might sell to fund the purchase.

The possibility that Musk could follow through on his deal has shielded Twitter’s share price in recent months from a slump in shares of other social media companies amid a broad sell-off on Wall Street over concerns about rising interest rates and a weak economy.

With Tuesday’s gains, Twitter is up 20% year-to-date, compared with a more than 50% decline at Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc (META.O).

Reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California. Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Matthew Lewis

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