Elon Musk says Twitter battle could officially end this month.
Key Details
- The fight between Elon Musk and Twitter has been ongoing for months, but the end could finally be in sight.
- This week, Musk reverted back to his original deal to buy the social-media company after attempting to abandon it earlier in the year.
- Now, Musk is saying the deal could end on or around October 28 if Twitter agrees to the dealings.
Why it’s news
Elon Musk and Twitter have been in the headlines for months as the Tesla CEO fought to abandon his $44 billion deal to buy the social media company.
He recently reverted back to his original offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share—for a total of $44 billion.
The two parties were set to be in court this month until Musk announced he was willing to go back to his original offer. Now he is asking for a stay in the trial but—Twitter hasn’t yet.
Both Musk and Twitter will have to ask for a stay in order for the process to continue, but the social media company hasn’t done so. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick said the two parties have until the 28th to officially close the deal, but if they don’t it will continue in November.
Many people think that Twitter not moving along with the deal means the two sides are still fighting and have yet to come to an official agreement.
Backing up a bit
The timeline between Elon Musk and Twitter is long.
It all started in April, Elon Musk announced that he held a 9.2% stake in Twitter, which made him the social-media company’s largest shareholder. Twitter’s stock price soared 25% after the announcement.
Later that month, the billionaire entrepreneur offered to buy all of Twitter at $54.20 per share—equaling about $44 billion. He said he originally invested in the platform because he believes it is failing in its potential to be the leading platform for free speech around the globe. In fact, he asked his 2 million followers if Twitter adhered to principles of free speech, and 70% said “no.”
In July, Musk decided to back out of the deal, claiming there were too many fake accounts on the platform. Twitter has since sued Musk in Delaware Court of Chancery to complete the deal and requested the trial to take place in September. Musk, on the other hand, wanted to delay the trial until February 2023, stating that a case of this size takes time to prepare. Twitter was granted its wish of an expedited trial, with Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the presiding judge, setting a five-day trial for October. Musk then countersued Twitter, stating his reason for the termination was due to Twitter not being upfront about the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Then, Elon Musk and his legal team subpoenaed Twitter’s founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, to get him to release documents that provide accurate information on bots and spam accounts on the social-media platform and now these documents have come out from Zatko and Musk and his lawyers have subpoenaed him as well. Then, Musk’s text messages were revealed in court filings and it showed that Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tried to facilitate Musk’s Twitter takeover, which led to Musk officially reverting back to his original deal to buy the social-media company.
