Musings From Abroad

Step Aside Elon: Vanguard Group unseats Musk as Twitter’s largest shareholder, ups stake to 10.3%

Published

3 years ago

April 15, 2022

Barely two weeks after acquiring 9.2 percent of Twitter stock to make him the single largest shareholder of the social media company, billionaire Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has been usurped by an investment group, the Vanguard Investment Group, to become the highest shareholders of the firm.

In a filing made public on Thursday by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (US SEC), Vanguard Investment now owns 82.4 million shares of Twitter, or 10.3% of the firm.

Musk had practically become Twitter’s owner when he bought the 9.2% stake on April 4, pushing founder Jack Dorsey into second place as the single largest individual stakeholder, and was even invited to come on the Twitter board, an offer he declined after public outcry.

But that is no longer the case as new funds injections by the Vanguard group have taken its shareholding in Twitter to 10.3%, making it the largest shareholder in the San Francisco-headquarter social media firm.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Vanguard’s holdings are now worth $3.78 billion, based on Twitter stock’s closing price on Wednesday.

“Vanguard isn’t making a directional bet on Twitter…Instead, the majority of its assets are in index and other so-called passive funds. The firm often sides with management on voting issues and doesn’t advocate for changes like a hedge fund or activist investor might,” the Journal wrote.

Musk had, on Wednesday, offered to buy 100% of Twitter, offering $54.20 per share in cash to buy the micro blogging site for $41.39 billion but the offer was rejected.

The Twitter board was against the purchase with the board of directors considering whether to use a “poison pill,” a defensive corporate technique that raises the price of the target’s stock in order to deter an undesirable takeover offer.

Musk had previously criticized the social media giant publicly, and before making a pitch for a take over, had posted:

“Taking Twitter private at $54.20 should be up to shareholders, not the board,” before running a “yes or no” poll asking users if they would welcome an edit button on the platform.

“Do you want an edit button?” Musk had tweeted.

Related Topics:Elon Musk Featured Shareholder Twitter

Click to comment

Musings From Abroad

Seeking to expand ties in Africa, Indonesia’s Prabowo attends D-8 economic meeting in Egypt

Published

1 day ago

December 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the government, Indonesian President, Prabowo Subianto, travelled to Egypt on Tuesday to attend meetings of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, a group of eight significant Muslim developing nations.

To enhance collaboration between the nations spanning from Southeast Asia to Africa, the D-8 was formed in 1997 and consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. Beginning in January 2026, Indonesia will serve as the group’s chair.

Prabowo said that he would meet with Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

“Egypt is our close friend, our strategic partner and an important country in the Middle East,” he said before his departure, adding he would also meet the Egyptian business community.

He would go to Malaysia from Egypt and then return to Indonesia.

Since taking office in October, Prabowo has stated that his administration will uphold Indonesia’s long-standing non-alignment foreign policy.

Since winning the presidency earlier this year, he has been to more than 20 nations, including China, the US, Japan, and Russia.

Musings From Abroad

UN warns Sudan rebels may be getting weapons in Chad from UAE cargo planes

Published

5 days ago

December 14, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Flight data and satellite photographs reveal that dozens of UAE cargo planes have landed at a small Chad airstrip since Sudan’s civil war began last year, which some U.N. experts and diplomats fear is being used to transport guns into the fight.

At least 86 UAE planes have landed at Amdjarass airfield in eastern Chad since the war started in April 2023.

According to flight data and business records examined by Reuters, three-quarters of them were operated by airlines accused by the U.N. of transporting Emirati weaponry to a Libyan warlord.

The UAE, a key Western partner in the Middle East, insists it sends Sudan aid through Chad, not armaments.

The UAE denied “credible” allegations that it was supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group fighting the Sudanese army in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, via the Chad airstrip in January.

Reuters uncovered footage from Amdjarass this year, revealing two pallets loaded with khaki containers, some labelled with the UAE flag, on the tarmac.

Reuters is obscuring the footage’s date and provenance for fear of reprisals.

Three weapons specialists, two of whom were U.N. inspectors, said the containers were unlikely to convey humanitarian material, generally bundled in cardboard boxes coated in plastic and stacked high on pallets due to its lightweight. The footage shows metal containers packed low on pallets.

One U.N. weapons inspector said the contents were “highly probably ammunition or weapons, based on the design and colour of boxes,” but requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information.

He stated that right-hand pallet cases are long and slender, suggesting weaponry.

Reuters could not independently verify the containers’ contents. The filming date is being withheld to protect the source.

The UAE government told Reuters it has deployed 159 relief planes with more than 10,000 tonnes of food and medical assistance to feed its Amdjarass field hospital.

“We firmly reject the baseless and unfounded claims regarding the provision of arms and military equipment to any warring party since the beginning of the conflict,” the statement said.

To counter Islamist militants, the oil-rich Gulf kingdom has interfered in crises from Yemen to Libya since the Arab Spring protests of 2011. The UAE views Muslim Brotherhood and other groups as threats to internal stability.

In Sudan’s army, Islamists affiliated with deposed President Omar al-Bashir have long held power.

Senior RSF official Brigadier General Omar Hamdan rejected foreign help. He told Nairobi media on Nov. 18 that Sudanese firms made its guns and ammunition. The RSF declined to comment on this topic.