Entrepreneur Elon Musk, who recently bought social media platform Twitter Inc for $44 billion, has said that he put the deal ‘temporarily on hold.’ Musk says he is waiting for data on the proportion of Twitter’s fake accounts.
“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” Musk told his more than 92 million Twitter followers.
Ever since Musk signed the deal, technology stocks have plunged amid investor concerns over inflation and a potential economic slowdown. The spread between the offer price and the value of Twitter shares had widened in recent days, implying less than a 50% chance of completion, as investors speculated that the downturn would prompt Musk to walk or seek a lower price.
Musk has been critical of the presence of spambots on Twitter and blamed the company’s dependence on advertising for it. He has also criticised Twitter’s moderation policy and had said he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former US President Donald Trump once he buys the social media platform.
However, according to analysts, since this 5% metric has been out for some time, he would have already seen it. Bringing it up now may be more part of the strategy to lower the price.
The fact is Musk won’t be able to walk away from the deal as he is contractually obligated to pay Twitter a $1 billion breakup fee if he does not complete the deal. We have to wait and watch what Musk has in mind going forward.
