Elon Musk makes $41.4 billion cash offer to buy Twitter

Elon Musk has made a cash offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, in his latest play for the social media giant. 

The Tesla billionaire said on Thursday in a letter to the chairman of Twitter's board Bret Taylor, disclosed via a filing, that if the offer is not accepted he would "need to consider [his] position as a shareholder."

The price is a 54% premium over the day before he began investing in Twitter and a 38% premium over the day before his investment was publicly announced, he said in the note. 

The offer is worth $41.4 billion and would amount to a take private. 

"I'm not playing a back-and-forth game," wrote Musk. "I have moved straight to the end."

Twitter will review what's on the table with advice from Goldman Sachs and law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, according to a report by Reuters. 

The move comes following a week of flip-flopping on his official position at the company. Earlier this week, Musk said he would not be joining Twitter's board, a move that would have prevented him from increasing his stake in the social media firm beyond 14.9%. 

The news came five days after Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said Musk was joining Twitter's board, following the billionaire's purchase of a 9.2% stake in the company.

Musk's appointment was subject to a "background check and formal acceptance" on April 9, but Musk informed Twitter of his decision on the same day.

He remains the biggest shareholder of Twitter and Agrawal said the company will remain open to Musk's input.

Twitter's share price was up around 11.6% in pre-market trade on Thursday, according to data provided by MarketWatch.