Elon’s Financing Deal to Purchase Twitter on Hold Due to Spat Over Requested Info – Opinion

Elon Musk temporarily put on hold his efforts to buy Twitter, while he waited for Twitter information about fake bot accounts.

Musk had said he reserved the right to back out of the deal and they were in “clear material breach” if they didn’t turn over the information, proving that bots comprised fewer than five percent of users. If Twitter is misrepresenting the number of real people on the site, that affects the value of Twitter because then you wouldn’t have real eyes clicking on any of the advertising.

He is now threatening to walk away again if he doesn’t get the information. He’s trying to force Twitter to give up the information.

In a letter to Twitter on Monday, Musk’s lawyers wrote they have repeatedly asked for the information since May 9, about a month after his offer to buy the company, so he could evaluate how many of the company’s 229 million accounts are fake.

Musk has long been fixated on Twitter’s bot problem as a reflection of the platform’s true value. Musk has over 97 million followers.

Twitter said in a statement Monday that it has been cooperatively sharing information with Musk “in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement” and noted that the deal is in “the best interest of all shareholders.”

“We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms,” it added.

Musk has indicated he doesn’t believe the numbers he’s gotten so far from Twitter. In the letter, he said that he needed the raw data to conduct his analysis and did not believe in the company’s “lax testing methodologies.”

Musk secured funding to obtain $2-$3 billion in financing from several equity firms. The situation is still unclear so discussions regarding financing have been put on hold.

People have been speculating that part of Musk’s reluctance may be to force a better price. They may be able to sue him over their claims about the bot number. They can sue him for the agreement. He may claim that they misrepresented their situation. If they haven’t been honest about the information provided, that’s a big problem. They must acknowledge the truth, cut the bait and lower the prices at some point. I think that’s what’s going on here. However, he must get it moving quickly while still having his finances in place.

There are a lot of forces — including those within Twitter — that don’t want the deal to go through. But if they don’t go through with it, their stock is going to take a huge hit. Twitter now finds itself between two rock and hard places.

So it’s getting down and dirty now and we’ll have to see where it goes. Twitter isn’t talking publicly at his point, according to Fox.