Tesla Inc chief executive Elon Musk on Tuesday offered to push through with his buyout of Twitter Inc at the original agreed price, as a trial over his efforts to withdraw from the deal loomed.
The world’s richest man said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that he had sent Twitter a letter vowing to honor the contract.
The latest twist in the long-running saga came ahead of the high-stakes court battle launched by Twitter in an attempt to hold Musk to the deal he signed in April.
Photo: Reuters
Musk’s potential stewardship of the influential social media site has sparked worry from activists who fear he could open the gates to more abusive and misinformative posts.
“We write to notify you that the Musk Parties intend to proceed to closing of the transaction,” a copy of the letter to Twitter filed with the commission said.
Twitter confirmed that it received the letter from Musk, and said it intends to close the buyout deal at the agreed-on price of US$54.20 per share.
Conditions noted in Musk’s letter included that the court halt action in the lawsuit against him. He had been scheduled to be questioned under oath by Twitter attorneys later this week.
Musk wrote on Twitter that buying the social media company “is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app,” but offered no details.
During an annual shareholders’ meeting in August, Musk said Twitter could add momentum to a vision he had for the X.com company he founded in 1999.
X.com merged with Confinity Inc, whose cofounders include Peter Thiel, and the entity went on to become PayPal Inc.
“I do sort of have a grander vision for what I thought X.com, or X corporation, could have been back in the day,” Musk said at the shareholders’ meeting.
“I think Twitter would help accelerate that by three to five years,” he said.
A serial entrepreneur made rich through his success with Tesla electric vehicles, Musk began to step back from the Twitter deal soon after it was agreed.
However, “I think that Musk realized he was not going to win that trial” next week, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said.
“Ever since he had buyer’s remorse, the problem has been why, and why had he not done due diligence up front,” he said.
Musk in July said he was canceling the purchase because he was misled by Twitter concerning the number of fake “bot” accounts, allegations rejected by the company.
Twitter has sought to prove Musk was contriving excuses to walk away because he changed his mind.
In July, a Delaware judge agreed to fast-track a trial on Twitter’s allegations.
“Ultimately, we will not know why Elon elected to change course ahead of trial, though we speculate that there are details of the negotiation or legal process that he preferred remain private — including deposition,” Baird Equity Research analysts said in a note to investors.
Claiming to be a free speech advocate, Musk has said he favored lifting the site’s ban on former US president Donald Trump, who was kicked off shortly after his efforts to overturn his election defeat led to the Jan. 6 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters.
“Musk made it clear that he would roll back Twitter’s community standards and safety guidelines, reinstate Donald Trump along with scores of other accounts suspended for violence and abuse, and open the floodgates of disinformation,” said Angelo Carusone, president of watchdog group Media Matters for America.
“In effect, Musk will turn Twitter into a fever swamp of dangerous conspiracy theories, partisan chicanery and operationalized harassment,” he said.
Musk’s norm-defying conduct over Twitter comes after the Tesla and SpaceX chief’s past record of statements that flout or test convention and sometimes provoke a crackdown from regulators.
On Monday he was embroiled in a Twitter spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over his ideas on ending Russia’s invasion.
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