Self-proclaimed—but unsubstantiated—Twitter investor Leonidas Raisini mocked Elon Musk on his own platform.
Raisini offered to buy Twitter for $30 billion less than what Musk paid for the social media platform in October.
The potential Twitter troll—who mocked Musk before—backed his claim with a very familiar sounding letter of intent and a video.
Raisini said in his letter to Musk:
"Before you acquired Twitter, I had invested in Twitter as I believed in its potential to be the platform for free speech, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy."
"However, since you acquired Twitter, you have not kept your promise of free speech and Twitter has become a breeding ground for online hate and terrorism. I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form under its current owner."
Raisini added:
"Twitter needs to be transformed as a public company where members will become its owners. Together these members form the governing body of Twitter and under a leadership that can respect Free Speech without spreading disinformation and hatred."
"Together with my partners, my fund has secured the funding to buy Twitter."
He concluded:
"As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $18.53 per share in cash (14.26 Billion), as I do not consider the current valuation of $41.09 Billion to be accurate."
"My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder and inform my fund to withdraw my investment.
"Twitter has super extraordinary potential. I am the right one to unlock it."
You can see Raisini's letter here:
\u201cMy offer letter sent today to @elonmusk to buy Twitter. As I indicated, I believe that Twitter is not being managed well under his leadership & I have secured funding to acquire Twitter.\n\u00a0\nMy advisors & team are available to answer any questions & I hope this offer is accepted.\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
Raisini's letter should sound very familiar to Musk.
The so-called investor deliberately parrotted Musk's own April letter of offer to then Twitter chairman of the board Bret Taylor.
Musk wrote to Taylor:
"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy."
"However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company."
Here is Musk's letter:
\u201cTWITTER TAKEOVER: Below is the letter Elon Musk sent Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor. Musk says he will buy the platform at $54.20 per share - a valuation of approximately $43 billion.\n\n"Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it."\u201d— Alex Caprariello (@Alex Caprariello) 1649933228
Musk concluded in his missive:
"As a result, I am offering to buy 100% of Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, a 54% premium over the day before I began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before my investment was publicly announced."
"My offer is my best and final offer and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder."
"Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it."
To further substantiate his claim, Raisini posted this video on Twitter as well.
\u201cThe offer has been sent to Elon Musk & his \u201cfamily office\u201d manager, Jared Birchall. They can either consider or reject. He won\u2019t receive a more generous offer and here\u2019s a Billion in cash being prepared to be sent to Elon as soon he accepts my offer. \ud83d\udcb5\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
Regarding the legitimacy of his offer, Raisini tweeted:
\u201cWhy are there so many morons & Elon \ud83c\udf46 suckers on Twitter? Any Tom, Dick or Harry can present an offer to buy any company in the world. (If funding is secured). The rest is up to the company or it\u2019s shareholders to accept or refuse. Just like Elon Musk did with Tesla & Twitter.\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672800024
Reactions to the offer were mixed.
\u201c@kathrynresister @elonmusk \ud83d\udcaf\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
\u201c@CausticNews @iamraisini @elonmusk It was originally written by Elon Musk when Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20.\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
\u201c@iamraisini @spmarx @elonmusk If this is real, you are now my one and only hero!\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
\u201c@iamraisini @elonmusk That offer belongs in the bin\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
\u201c@iamraisini @KathyBarger7 @elonmusk Kinda think he\u2019s not flushing $30b but I wish he would.\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
\u201c@iamraisini @elonmusk I have\u2026 umm.. $1.27, 1 half eaten candy cane, and an invalid IOU for $24 from 1992 that I can kick in to help.\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672785461
In November Raisini began an extensive thread on Twitter calling out Musk as a liar and charlatan.
\u201cThread \ud83e\uddf5\nElon Musk is a pathological liar, a charlatan and a Super Villain. I have nothing against him but as an investor in Tesla & Twitter, i have serious concerns about his long track record of lies, his treatment of staff at Tesla, SpaceX & Twitter. This thread is about that\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1669829420
\u201cAs Elon Musk continues to destroy Twitter/Tesla and hasn\u2019t responded to investors calls to resign from his position, I will continue to expose his fraud. Next, I will expose his \u2018Shadow Crew\u2019, his \u201cPuppets\u201d who are under contract from TSLA to defame critics & the \u201cPayPal Mafia\u201d\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672706244
Regarding Musk's interest in Twitter, Raisini added:
\u201cElon Musk did not pay $44 Billion for Twitter. He paid for the data of 400 Million Twitter \u201cUsers\u201d, so he can mine your data for his Neuralink AI project & improve Tesla & Starlink. These companies need data to help them progress. Don\u2019t be a \ud83d\udc11. You cant trust Elon with your data\u201d— R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb (@R\u039bISINI \u30e9\u30a4\u30b7\u30cb) 1672887001
As of this writing, Musk has not responded to nor banned Raisini from Twitter.
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram