Elon Musk gives up on buying Twitter
Steph Deschamps / July 9, 2022
Elon Musk, the boss of Tesla and SpaceX, told Twitter on Friday that he was ending a deal with the board to buy the social network because of false and misleading information about the company.
In a letter published by the U.S. regulator, its lawyers say that Twitter has not met its commitments in the agreement, by not giving all the information requested on the number of fake accounts and spam.
Twitter has repeatedly said in recent weeks that the number of fake accounts on its platform was less than 5%. The multi-billionaire and his team believe that the network is lying, and that this affects the viability of its business, and therefore the value of the company.
For weeks, experts have been wondering if Elon Musk was trying to withdraw his offer or renegotiate the price downwards.
By ending his commitment to buy Twitter, the businessman exposes himself to significant legal action. Both parties have agreed to pay a termination fee of up to $1 billion under certain circumstances.
On April 25, he seemed to have succeeded in his gamble, despite Twitter's attempts to push him back. He signed a definitive agreement with the group's board of directors to buy the social network for $54.20 per share, or $44 billion in total.
Since then, Twitter's stock has lost more than a quarter of its value. Tesla's stock has also plummeted by nearly 25% over that period.