- Tom Spinner
- Business Reporter – BBC News
Elon Musk has confirmed that the $ 44 billion deal to buy Twitter could be jeopardized by controversy over the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Musk tweeted that the deal would not “move forward” unless Twitter backed up its claim that less than 5 percent of the accounts were fake or random.
The Twitter leader accused the number of not being accurate.
Analysts have speculated that Musk may be looking for ways to negotiate a contract price again or deviate from it.
On Monday, Musk told Twitter he was trying to reduce the price he was paying.
Musk agreed to a $ 44 billion deal to buy Twitter with the company’s board of directors in April, but said last week that details of the deal were pending fake accounts.
On Tuesday, Musk tweeted that his offer to buy the company was based on the “accuracy” of Twitter’s revelations to regulators about fake accounts.
Musk said Twitter chairman Barack Agarwal “generally refused to show evidence” that less than 5 percent of accounts were fake, and that the deal “could not go forward” until Agarwal submitted evidence.
It looks like Musk’s tweet was deleted then.
The millionaire who runs automaker Tesla estimates that the number of fake accounts is 20 percent or more.
Technical teacher
Elon Musk has reaffirmed his position that his agreement to buy the social media site is pending to verify the real numbers of fake accounts operating on the site.
Twitter CEO Barak Agarwal responded to Kasturi, his nerves trembling.
When the world’s richest man responds to one of your tweets with an emoji called a flower emoji, I think you know what caught his eye.
I gave up trying to read Elon Musk’s Thought a long time ago, but for a moment let’s engage in speculation.
This creates a huge whirlwind around fake accounts. If so is she the right player to stop the rematch? His initial offer to buy the company for $ 44 billion was higher than current stock prices suggest.
He moved quickly and aggressively, perhaps even with impulsiveness.
In order to finance the deal, he had to sell a large stake in Tesla, one of his other companies, an electric car maker, which caused a fall in the value of the company, which made other investors nervous.
If both sides of the deal withdraw now, they will have to pay a $ 1 billion cancellation fee.
To someone with billions this may seem like a paltry sum – Musk always says he is rich in assets, rich in money – but it gives him the ability to successfully deduct a few billion from the auction price, because a billion dollars is not a billion dollars. A paltry sum for Twitter and its partners.
But Musk may be right to question the value of Twitter.
If it is not really proliferated by fake accounts, the chances of making it better again are slim, and the phrase may be familiar, considering that he has already indicated that he wants to reactivate former US President Donald Trump’s account.
Coincidentally, Trump has so far declined the invitation.
Musk and Agarwal have been publicly discussing fake account numbers on Twitter, but their relationship has deteriorated.
On Monday, Musk responded by defending Agarwal’s company report on fake accounts with a stool emoji.
The film was released, Getty Images
Elon Musk says Twitter purchase is risky.
Musk said he did not know what advertisers were paying for on Twitter.
“So how do advertisers know what they’re getting paid for? This is fundamental to Twitter’s financial health,” he wrote.
“You can not pay the same price for something worse than they say,” Musk told a conference in Miami after he stopped trying.
He said a deal at a different price was “out of the question”, but added: “The more questions I ask, the more I am afraid.”
Doubt about the contract
Musk called for random samples of Twitter users to be tested to identify fake users. “They are likely to be more than 90 percent of the daily active users,” he said.
Researchers estimate that 4 to 20 percent or more of the millions of personal accounts on Twitter are fake.
And Twitter shares fell more than 8 percent to $ 37.39 a share on Monday, raising doubts about whether Musk will continue to acquire the company at the agreed price.
“Elon Musk is either preparing to negotiate at a very low price in exchange for Twitter or trying to pull out of the deal,” said Susanna Schreider, chief investment and market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdowne.
It said that confirming the number of real users on Twitter was “essential for future revenue from advertising or paid subscriptions to the site”.
“The volatility of technology stocks that contributed to the sharp decline in Twitter’s estimated value is also part of the equation,” Strider said. “.
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