Photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash

Twitter Inc. (TWTR) shares are trading 11.8% higher in the pre-market session on Thursday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The shares surged as Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk proposed acquiring all Twitter shares that he already doesn't own and said the company needed to be taken private so that necessary improvements could be made.

Musk offered to buy Twitter shares at $54.20 each, an upside of 18.2% over Wednesday's closing price.

"It's a high price and your shareholders will love it," the Tesla CEO told the Twitter board's chair, Bret Taylor. "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."

Twitter shares have been seeing volatility this month, with the disclosure of Musk's stake, his appointment to the board — and him later declining to join the board amid reported friction.