Elon Musk has offered to go ahead with the purchase of Twitter to avoid going to judgment and thus put an end to one of the biggest recent soap operas in the technology industry. After months of disputes and cross accusations, the technological tycoon would have backed down by informing the social network of its intention to maintain the agreement sealed last April and close its acquisition for 44,000 million dollars (about 41,000 million euros).
As ‘Bloomberg’ has advanced, citing people familiar with the conversation and confirmed by other US media, the richest man in the world sent a letter with his proposal to the board of directors of the platform during Monday night, an option that is still being studied. The initial price of the sale of Twitter was agreed at 54.20 dollars per share, a figure much higher than the current value of the social network.
legal battle
Shortly after closing that purchase deal in April, Musk began accusing Twitter of lying about the number of fake accounts that operate within the platform. After almost two months of speculation, the controversial businessman – leader of companies such as Tesla either SpaceX— declared in July that it no longer wanted to complete the acquisition to which it had committed in writing. The board of directors of the social network then denounced Musk for failing to comply with the agreement and to force him to rectify. Along the way, the assessment of the company has collapsed, undermining the confidence of its employees and generating a climate of nerves and uncertainty.
The long-awaited trial between Twitter and Musk is set for October 17, less than two weeks from now. The social network assured that Musk’s arguments about “spam” were “smokescreens” to back down and try to correct an operation that he could have closed for a lower price. Still, the company’s former chief security officer charged in July that Twitter “lied” to regulators about its security problems and about the actual number of automated accounts (or ‘bot‘), thus supporting Musk’s thesis.
If accepted, Musk’s rectification would allow him to avoid a long and costly process whose resolution is unknown. On the other hand, the US media point out that the purchase offer could be a tactic of negotiation of the tycoon to stop the litigation.
Twitter shares have shot up +12% after revealing Musk’s step back to accept the purchase of the platform at its initial price (much higher than what it is worth now). Twitter has suspended its listing before what could be an agreement between both parties. pic.twitter.com/hVN6VoXsLD
– Carles Planas Bou (@carlesplb) October 4, 2022
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The news has been received with euphoria in the markets. The Actions of Twitter have shot up 12.67% after learning of Musk’s rectification. The company has temporarily suspended its listing in bag waiting for an agreement to be closed that would mean a clear victory for the social network, because in addition to achieving its initial objective —ratified by its shareholders—that would allow him to put an end to his internal crisis.
Before opening this business soap opera by rejecting the purchase agreement, Musk promised Twitter investors that by 2025 it could achieve 500 million daily users and revenue of 13.2 billion dollars, figures far from the 5.077 million entered last year. It has been speculated that a Twitter under Musk’s control will lead to limiting content moderation, opening the algorithms and even allowing former US President Donald Trump to return to the platform.
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism