2 ms·
The poison pill is the name of a corporate strategy that prevents Elon from just buying 50% of the shares in the stock market and doing whatever he wants. It do
by HWR_14 5y ago
The poison pill is the name of a corporate strategy that prevents Elon from just buying 50% of the shares in the stock market and doing whatever he wants. It doesn't mean the same thing as the board saying they would rather swallow poison than deal with Musk.
Therefore, the board engaging with his bid to buy twitter, and the two of them only negotiating that way, was the goal. So it's not a 180.
The board was originally hesitant to engage because even Elon Musk could have a lot of trouble raising $44 billion in cash. They didn't want to agree to a deal that didn't go through (like trying to buy a house without cash or preapproval). He seems to have secured loans to actually pay for Twitter, so now they are seriously engaging.
- xiphias2 5y agoI think it was more than just they didn't believe Elon had trouble raising the cash. They liked being in control of Twitter and getting easy money as board members, and didn't realise that they can get personally liable for billions of dollars of loss for shareholders and go to court for years if they don't at least consider the offer and seriously evaluate whether the offer is worth taking for Twitter shareholders or not.
- peterbonney 5y ago> didn't realise that they can get personally liable for billions of dollars of loss for shareholders and go to court for years if they don't at least consider the offer It is ludicrous to believe that, even if this were true BEFORE the Musk bid came in, they were not consulting with corporate counsel AFTER and in conjunction with issuing the poison pill. As others have said, it is frequently used as a negotiating tactic and will usually pop up somewhere along the way in any unsolicited takeover situation. Just like the simple act of saying "no" is often a negotiating tactic and not a true statement of someone's unwavering intent.