Is Elon Musk Trying to Wriggle Out of His $44 Billion Twitter Deal?
Elon Musk's $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter looks in serious doubt and the billionaire is thought to be looking for a way to either change the terms or simply walk away.
A report by The Washington Post(Opens in a new window), which cites three people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, details how the deal is now seen as being in "serious jeopardy" following two key recent events.
Musk put the deal on temporary hold back in May because he wanted to know the percentage of spam and fake accounts on the service before proceeding. Sure enough, Twitter provided him with access to a "firehose" of data on June 25 and his team has been poring over it ever since. However, it's apparently not enough data to "evaluate Twitter’s prospects as a business."
Alongside that, talks with investors, who would in part provide the funding required by Musk to complete the acquisition, have cooled. The combination of not enough data and a social network that now looks very expensive due to the Twitter share price falling considerably, is thought to have left Musk questioning whether it's still a good investment.
Two possible outcomes are now predicted. The first is a "change in direction" by Musk's team, but nobody knows what form that would take (a renegotiation of the price, perhaps?). The second is Musk finding a way to walk away and save himself $44 billion. According to the terms of the deal, that should only be possible if Twitter suffers a major change to its business, which seems unlikely.
When asked about the situation, Twitter spokesperson Brian Poliakoff simply referred to the statement the company made back in June: "Twitter has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Mr. Musk to
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