Elon Musk revived a bid to buy Twitter at the original price of $54.20 a share, backtracking on his effort to quit the deal and potentially avoiding a contentious courtroom fight.
Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter on Monday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Shares of Twitter climbed 22% to $52 at the close in New York. San Francisco-based Twitter said it received the letter and intends to close the deal at the agreed-upon price, without commenting specifically on how it will respond to Musk.
For Twitter, proceeding with Musk’s plan augurs a future under a mercurial billionaire who has spent months publicly criticizing its management, questioning its value and changing his mind. It also means that his contested claims — that Twitter was lying about which percentage of users were bots, for instance — are not likely to be scrutinized in a court of law.