Musk, Twitter sued by Florida pension fund over $44bn takeover

Gunnar Larson g at xny.io
Thu May 19 10:50:20 PDT 2022


https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/6/musk-twitter-sued-by-florida-pension-fund-over-44bn-takeover

The Orlando Police Pension Fund argues the deal can’t close before 2025
because Musk was an ‘interested shareholder’ in the social networking
platform.

Elon Musk’s $44 billion buyout of Twitter Inc. was challenged in a lawsuit
by a Florida pension fund that argues the deal can’t close before 2025
because Musk was an “interested shareholder” in the social networking
platform.

The Orlando Police Pension Fund filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court on
Thursday. According to the complaint, Musk had agreements with other major
Twitter shareholders — including founder Jack Dorsey — to rely on their
holdings when offering to take the company private last month. Those
arrangements triggered a Delaware law that calls for a three-year delay in
closing such deals, the fund claims.
KEEP READINGlist of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Nvidia pays $5.5m SEC fine over
crypto-mining disclosures
<https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/6/nvidia-pays-5-5m-us-fine-over-crypto-mining-disclosures>list
2 of 4UK pushes tough tech rules under new digital watchdog
<https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/6/uk-pushes-tough-tech-rules-under-new-digital-watchdog>list
3 of 4S&P 500 suffers longest weekly losing streak since 2011
<https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/6/us-stocks-fall-as-jobs-data-adds-to-rate-hike-jitters>list
4 of 4SpaceX capsule brings four astronauts home from six-month mission
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/6/spacex-capsule-brings-four-astronauts-home-from-six-month-mission>end
of list

Musk’s Twitter acquisition features one of the biggest leveraged buyout
deals in history. He’s taking private a 16-year-old social networking
platform that has become a hub of public discourse and a flashpoint in the
debate over online free speech. Musk disclosed Thursday a group of
investors were kicking in more than $7 billion of equity towards the deal.
They include Oracle Corp. billionaire Larry Ellison, venture-capital firm
Sequoia Capital and cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings Ltd.

A representative for Musk didn’t immediately return an email seeking
comment on the pension fund’s suit.

Musk, 50, has outlined financing for the deal that includes $13 billion in
bank loans secured by the social-media company and $12.5 billion backed by
a pledge of some of his $170 billion Tesla Inc. stake. He’s currently the
world’s richest individual, with a fortune valued at more than $249 billion.

The pension fund’s lawyers note Musk owned about 10% of Twitter’s shares
when he made his buyout offer. The also say in the complaint that he had an
“agreement, arrangement or understanding” with other major Twitter
investors, such as Dorsey and investment bank Morgan Stanley. Those pacts
allowed Musk to rely on their shares and support for the deal, according to
the suit.

Under Delaware corporate law, those agreements make Musk an “interested
shareholder” who has to wait three years to close the deal or win the
support of investors who control “at least 66 2/3% of Twitter’s outstanding
voting stock” and were independent from the billionaire, the suit said.

The fund is asking a Delaware judge to find that Musk meets the test for an
“interested shareholder” and is subject to the law, according to the
complaint.

The case is Orlando Police Pension Fund v. Twitter Inc, No. 2022-0396,
Delaware Chancery Court.

(Updates with details from suit starting in fifth paragraph)
SOURCE: BLOOMBERG <https://www.bloomberg.com/>
Sign up for Al Jazeera
Americas Coverage Newsletter
US politics, Canada’s multiculturalism, South America's geopolitical
rise—we bring you the stories that matter.
Sign up
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy
<https://privacy.aljazeera.net/>
------------------------------
ADVERTISEMENT
This content is created and paid for by advertisers and does not involve Al
Jazeera journalists.
<https://www.dianomi.com/whats-this/?utm_source=pub.Aljazeera.com%20%28Freestar%20-%20News%29&utm_medium=smartad_sponsor_link>
LISTEN TO THESE PODCASTS
[image: podcast episode artwork]
play
From: The TakeWhat will Elon Musk do with Twitter?Elon Musk has more money
than anyone else in the world. Sometimes it seems like the SpaceX and Tesla
CEO has the most disr... <https://aj.audio/TheTake-397>
[image: podcast episode artwork]
play
From: The TakeRolling back Roe v WadeLast week, the world got a glimpse of
what is likely the end of Roe v Wade, the United States Supreme Court
decision that'... <https://aj.audio/TheTake-403>
[image: podcast episode artwork]
play
From: The Inside Story PodcastHow can the G5 Sahel force be maintained?Mali
is withdrawing from the G5 Sahel joint force fighting armed groups linked
to ISIL and Al Qaeda. Despite being a found...
<https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/the-inside-story-podcast>
RELATED

   -
   UK push­es tough tech rules un­der new dig­i­tal watch­dog
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/6/uk-pushes-tough-tech-rules-under-new-digital-watchdog>

   The Dig­i­tal Mar­kets Unit is aimed at giv­ing con­sumers more choice
   on­line.
   Published On 6 May 20226 May 2022
   [image: Google mobile phone icon]
   -
   US sanc­tions North Ko­re­an cryp­tocur­ren­cy mix­er Blender
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/6/us-sanctions-north-korean-cryptocurrency-mixing-firm>

   The sanc­tions, im­posed by the Unit­ed States Trea­sury De­part­ment,
   are the first ever on a dig­i­tal as­set mix­ing ser­vice.
   Published On 6 May 20226 May 2022
   [image: The US Treasury Department building]
   -
   Musk gets ex­tra $7bn for Twit­ter bid from tech heavy­weights
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/5/musk-gets-extra-7-1bn-for-twitter-bid-from-tech-heavyweights>

   Bil­lion­aire Elon Musk has strength­ened the eq­ui­ty stake of his
   of­fer to buy Twit­ter.
   Published On 5 May 20225 May 2022
   [image: Elon Musk looks at his mobile phone in Cape Canaveral, Florida,
   U.S]
   -
   Elon Musk asked by UK Par­lia­ment to dis­cuss plans to buy Twit­ter
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/4/elon-musk-asked-to-discuss-plans-to-buy-twitter-by-uk-parliament>

   The Par­lia­ment’s dig­i­tal com­mit­tee asked the Tes­la CEO to give
   ev­i­dence about his pro­pos­als ‘in more depth’.
   Published On 4 May 20224 May 2022
   [image: The Twitter application is seen on a digital device]

MORE FROM ECONOMY

   - Paying to get paid: Young Zimbabweans trade money, sex for jobs
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/5/19/paying-to-get-paid-young-zimbabweans-trade-money-sex-for-jobs>
   [image: A woman waits by her car for clients to buy clothes in central
   Harare, Friday, July, 18, 2014. [File: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo]]
   - End of an era: McDonald’s strikes deal to sell Russia restaurants
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/19/end-of-an-era-mcdonalds-strikes-deal-to-sell-russia-restaurants>
   [image: McDonald's, which was among the first Western consumer
   brands to enter Russia in 1990, signalled a new era of optimism in the wake
   of the Cold War shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall [File: Rudi
   Blaha/AP Photo]]
   - US jobless claims climb to highest level since January
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/19/us-jobless-claims-climb-to-highest-level-since-january>
   [image: American workers are enjoying historically strong job security
   two years after the coronavirus pandemic plunged the economy into a short
   but devastating recession [File: Andrew Kelly/Reuters]]
   - Not going to fly: Spirit Airlines again rejects JetBlue’s bid
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/5/19/not-going-to-fly-spirit-airlines-again-rejects-jetblues-bid>
   [image: It was the second rejection of a JetBlue bid by Spirit’s board,
   which stood by Frontier’s $2.9bn cash-and-stock deal agreed to in February
   [File: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg]]

MOST READ

   - Erdogan says ‘no’ to Nordic NATO hopefuls amid security concerns
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/18/un-chief-guterres-warns-of-global-food-crisis-amid-ukraine-war-liveblog>
   [image: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan [File: Yves
   Herman/Pool/Reuters]]
   - How the capture of Azov fighters affects the Russia-Ukraine war
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/19/how-the-capture-of-azov-fighters-affects-the-russia-ukraine-war>
   [image: People take part in a rally called Save Military of Mariupol in
   front of the Ukrainian president's office in Kyiv on May 3 [File:
   Sergei Supinsky/AFP]]
   - Russia suffers series of military, economic, diplomatic defeats
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/19/russia-suffers-a-series-of-military-economic-diplomatic-defeats>
   [image: Pro-Russian troops drive armoured vehicles during the
   Ukraine-Russia conflict near Novoazovsk in the Donetsk Region, Ukraine
   [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]]
   - Monkeypox: What is the disease and how serious is it?
   <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/19/monkeypox-what-is-this-disease>
   [image: An electron microscopic image shows the oval-shaped monkeypox
   virus particles [File: Reuters]]
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/html
Size: 46749 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.cpunks.org/pipermail/cypherpunks/attachments/20220519/0159ba9f/attachment.txt>


More information about the cypherpunks mailing list