BREAKING: Twitter responds to Elon Musk's offer to buy Twitter, take company private

After Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter outright on Thursday morning, Twitter responded with a statement, saying:

"Twitter, Inc today confirmed it has received an unsolicited, non-binding proposal from Elon Musk to acquire all of the Company’s outstanding common stock for $54.20 per share in cash.

"The Twitter Board of Directors will carefully review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in the best interest of the Company and all Twitter stockholders."

Musk announced his offer to buy the company on Thursday, issuing a tweet saying, simply "I made an offer," and linking to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That filing included a letter sent to Twitter's Chairman of the Board Bret Taylor, reading:

"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.

"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."

Musk's offer would represent a 54 percent premium over the Jan 28. closing price and a value of about $43 billion"

It was also announced that Twitter would be having an all-hands meeting on Thursday to address the matter.

Musk said that this was his "Best and Final" offer, saying "I am not playing the back-and-forth game," "I have moved straight to the end," "It's a high price and shareholders will love it."

In the event that the buy does not go through, Musk said "If the deal doesn't work, given that I don't have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder.

"This is not a threat," he went on to say, "it's simply not a good investment without the changed that need to be made. And those changes won't happen without taking the company private."

"My advisers and my team are available after you get the letter to answer any questions. There will be more detail in our public filing. After you receive the letter and review the public filings, your team can call my family and office with any questions."

Musk currently owns 9.1 percent of the company, making him the largest shareholder.