Elon Musk terminates the deal to buy Twitter

The letter sent to the SEC
The letter sent to the SEC

Elon Musk announced that he terminated the deal to buy Twitter he signed at the end of April 2022 for a value of approximately $44 billion. The billionaire claims that the social network executives didn’t provide the data required by the agreement, in particular those relating to the fake profiles used by spammers. His position was explained in a letter sent on his behalf by a lawyer to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the authority that oversees the American stock exchange. Twitter executives have announced plans to sue Elon Musk, so the story is far from over.

The announcement of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition deal caused a sensation. The billionaire stressed his intention to make various changes and a crucial point is represented by the desire to clean up the bots used by spammers, perhaps the only one that caused no controversy. However, it also became the center of the confrontation between the parties.

Only two weeks after the announcement of the Twitter acquisition deal, Elon Musk started disputing the figures provided by the social network executives. According to official reports, less than 5% of the 226 million daily active users are fake or spammer profiles. Musk disputed these conclusions and put the deal on hold while stating that he wanted to abide by the agreement.

The matter of the number of Twitter users and the percentage of spammers, bots, and fake profiles is complex and various assessments have been made over time. Elon Musk demanded clarity on this matter and believes Twitter executives failed to comply with the agreement, which requires complete information to be provided. The social network’s executives disagree.

It’s hard to say what can happen when a lawsuit is announced. The parties can go on for years with their litigation or there may be a new deal. Meanwhile, Twitter’s shares lost significant value, as they closed on Friday at $36.81 versus the $54.20 Elon Musk agreed to pay in the deal. However, recently, there are a lot of companies whose shares have experienced a much greater decline in value. If the parties really go to court, Twitter users’ scrutiny will go much more in-depth with results that could be interesting.

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