Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is threatening to go after Twitter’s board of directors for attempting to sink Elon Musk’s bid to purchase the social media giant.
Speaking at an unrelated press conference Tuesday, DeSantis said the firm fumbled its fiduciary duty by trying to scuttle a sale of the company’s stock at a premium.
That effort could potentially “injure” Florida’s pension funds because they hold Twitter stock, he argued.
“They rejected it because they know they can’t control Elon Musk,” DeSantis said. “It was not, in my judgment, a good business deal.”
While he didn’t go into specifics, DeSantis pledged to direct state officials to explore ways to scrutinize the board’s decision-making.
“We’re going to be looking at ways that the state of Florida potentially can be holding the Twitter board of directors accountable for breach of their fiduciary duty,” the governor said.
Upset over Musk’s splashy offer, Twitter’s board took action to weaken his leverage.
The “poison pill” would limit Musk’s ability to nab a larger stake in the company by making discounted shares available for purchase if he ever exceeds 15% ownership – a move that would sharply dilute his position.
“What Musk is trying to do is in a sense liberate it from being an agent of censorship into making it an actual open platform,” DeSantis said.
But 68% of Twitter staffers said they disapproved of Musk’s stated suggestions for the company and objected to his purchase bid.
