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Syed S. Ahmad

Where Product meets Commerce

Syed S. Ahmad is currently the Head of Product at General Retail, a position he has held since November 2021. His professional background includes experience as a Product Lead at Wyelands Bank and a board member at General Western Graphic. Ahmad's expertise lies in product management and technology, contributing significantly to the retail sector.12

He is based in the United Kingdom and has a proven track record in leading product development initiatives within the retail industry.1

Highlights

Apr 19 · linkedin

Today marks the death of Benjamin #Disraeli who suffered greatly at the hands of antisemitism; who challenged the visceral attacks on his person by prevailing over those that questioned his ethnicity: the 1st Jewish Prime Minister of The United Kingdom, serving twice 🇬🇧

“Circumstances are beyond human control, but conduct is in our own power” #Dizzy

Oct 4 · linkedin

Ok I’ll buy it: #ElonMusk writes to #Twitter to confirm purchase before possible depositions. They’re in court because he’s hoping to retract his hostile bid of around $44bn - forcing him to offload #Tesla shares to finance the deal, claiming the platform has an issue with artificially inflated number of users with lots of bots/spam.

Simply put: The case involves legal proceedings and scrutinising key figures around the transaction namely Elon Musk (The protagonist we all know), Parag Agarwal (CEO Twitter), Bret Taylor (chairman Twitter, co CEO salesforce) et al. A lot can, and has come out of the woodwork — texts, emails, conversations etc

He’s hoping to proceed with the deal but it’s an interesting letter. What have you noticed?

Trying to get into Elon’s head (As an activist entrepreneur) I can see:

  1. ‘Pending receipt of debt financing’

Is he betting against Debt markets pulling through? “No money, no honey :(“

  1. ‘Deal contingent on stay of litigation’

he wants protection; betrays a soft spot. This is likely a priority esp given where it sits in the letter: A demand for a concession.

  1. ‘notwithstanding other unknown matters that might stall the deal’

will he claim other factors? Other than the bots? Is he privy to something we aren’t?

Either way this is probably his best course of action, and he knows a stalemate in our current economic climate won’t do him any good. Cheap debt is a relic of our recent past & takeover activity (particularly the hostile kind) has slowed significantly in recent months.

Musk is probably hoping Twitter fails to complete because of factors he may be privy to, or he’s realising that this will only get more expensive with time (this news forces shares up, reducing his financial exposure), or he might genuinely be excited for this acquisition. Unlikely: sources say he’s very stressed.

But Elon can do well. He might be motivated by keeping his chats from leaking, but he could very well monetise Twitter in ways the board has failed to, driven by his management style & unique cult like following.

#Tesla shareholders won’t be happy: their company serves partly as collateral and their CEO will have divided attention at a time when they face increasing scrutiny on sales performance and on the regulatory side. Manufacturing is tough business especially with the energy crisis, and slowing consumer demand/increasing competition (especially in #China)

An interesting phenomenon buying and selling companies; it’s not easy (think of them as living organisms) & something I feel privileged to focus on in my line of work (albeit mostly private/off market and at a smaller scale).

#SyedNotes #BoardManagement #HostileTakeover #mergers #acquisitions #GeneralWestern

Related Questions

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Syed S. Ahmad
Syed S. Ahmad, photo 1
Syed S. Ahmad, photo 2
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Location

United Kingdom