Elon Musk Pulls Out Of Twitter’s $44 Bn Deal

Web Desk — World’s richest man Elon Musk says he is pulling out of a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter.

Musk, who owns Tesla and SpaceX, said in a letter sent by his lawyer that Twitter breached multiple parts of the merger agreement by failing to provide more information about how it estimates the number of spam accounts on its platform. Twitter has reported that in the first quarter, fewer than 5% of Twitter’s 229 million daily users were fake or spam-focused, but Musk says that number might not be accurate.

“This information is fundamental to Twitter’s business and financial performance,” reads the letter to Twitter from Musk lawyer Mike Ringler. The letter also said that Twitter “appears to have made false and misleading representations.”

Bret Taylor, chairman of Twitter’s board of directors, tweeted Friday that the company still intends to close the deal. “The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement,” Taylor tweeted. “We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.”

Musk, the world’s richest person, said he wanted to acquire Twitter because he believes the company no longer adheres to the principles of free speech, a term he’s used both loosely and often. On April 26, he tweeted, “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law.”

Under the US Constitution’s First Amendment, free speech refers to protection from government interference. It doesn’t apply to companies such as Twitter.