Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – A verbal argument took place between Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, Thursday, and Elon Musk, following he rejected the American billionaire’s offer to buy Twitter.
Earlier Thursday, the Saudi prince rejected Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter.
Al-Waleed bin Talal wrote on his Twitter account: “I do not think that the proposed offer by Elon Musk (54.20 dollars per share) is close to the real price of Twitter, following the growth it achieved,” he said.
And the Saudi prince continued, “As one of the largest and longest-serving investors in Twitter, Kingdom Holding Company, I reject this offer,” he said.
I don’t believe that the proposed offer by @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects.
Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer.
https://t.co/Jty05oJUTk https://t.co/XpNHUAL6UX
On the other hand, Elon Musk responded to Alwaleed bin Talal’s tweet, saying: “Interesting. (I have) only two questions, if I may. How much of Twitter does the kingdom directly and indirectly own? What is the kingdom’s view of freedom of press expression?”
@Alwaleed_Talal @Twitter @Kingdom_KHC Interesting. Just two questions, if I may.
How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly?
What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?
Since October 2015, Alwaleed bin Talal and the Kingdom Company have raised their ownership stake in Twitter to 5.2%, bringing the market value of their ownership to more than 3.75 billion riyals ($1 billion).
Twitter had said in a statement that it would study Elon Musk’s “non-binding” offer to determine if selling the entire company would be in the interest of it and its shareholders.
The president of Tesla and SpaceX recently bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter’s market value. Musk was due to join Twitter’s board of directors a few days ago, but he eventually backed down.
