In a dispute with Twitter management about the number of false accounts, Elon Musk is increasing the pressure and making the $44 billion takeover dependent on it. Musk also indicated renegotiations on Tuesday: his offer was based on Twitter’s stock market information being correct, Musk said.
Twitter’s boss has to prove that less than five percent of user accounts are fake: “This deal won’t move until it does.” Twitter announced that it would stick to the acquisition at the agreed price and terms.
Twitter shares then trimmed their premarket losses back down three percent to $36.31, well below Musk’s previously quoted purchase price of $54.20. That alone makes it less likely that Musk is willing to continue paying that price. At a conference in Miami on Monday, he said of the accounts, which are not backed by real people, “You can’t pay the same price for something that’s a lot worse than what’s being said.” The billionaire only put the acquisition on hold on Friday, citing a lack of information about the number of spam and false accounts. According to the short message service, the number is less than five percent, while Musk assumes at least a fifth of users.
When asked at the All-In conference in Miami if the deal would go through at a different price, Musk said, “It’s not out of the question.” At the same time, the 50-year-old explained that the more questions he asked on Twitter, the greater his concerns. How is it possible that advertisers even know what exactly they are getting for their money. “This is fundamental to Twitter’s financial health.”
Musk wants to do spot checks
The US group has not changed its information on spam and false accounts since 2013. Twitter boss Parag Agrawal tweeted that the number “is well below five percent” of the 229 million users. He couldn’t prove that because public and private information would be needed for that. Musk responded to the tweet with an obscene emoji. Currently, Twitter users are not required to reveal their real identities when signing up. Musk now wants to take samples to gain clarity.
At the end of April, Twitter had agreed to the takeover by Musk and thus his “best and last offer”. Musk wants to take the 16-year-old company private. According to insiders, during the financing talks with banks, he has already stated that he wants to find new ways to make money with tweets and cut manager salaries. At the same time, Musk declared that he wanted to make Twitter a haven for freedom of expression and also let the banned former US President Donald Trump back on the platform. Should Musk eventually reverse the Twitter takeover, he’ll have to pay a $1 billion fine. According to Forbes, the American is worth $265 billion, making him the richest man in the world.
Source: Nachrichten
