Elon Musk has been posting memes on Twitter mocking the social media platform for lawyering up and trying to him force him to buy them, as the Tesla chief's $44 billion deal to acquire the platform looks set to collapse.
The world's richest man first announced that he had put in a $44 billion bid—at $54.20 a share—to buy the social media platform on April 25.
But the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive told Twitter on Friday that he was pulling the plug on the deal, due to the number of spam accounts on the social media network. Musk's lawyers claimed Twitter had failed to respond to multiple requests for information on fake or spam accounts on the platform.
Bret Taylor, Twitter's chairman, responded with in a tweet: "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. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery."
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. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
— Bret Taylor (@btaylor) July 8, 2022
Mocking Twitter's threat on Sunday, Musk posted a grid of four photo memes of Musk laughing, each accompanied with a remark.
The first remark read: "They said I couldn't buy Twitter". The second read: "Then, they wouldn't disclose Bot information."
The third one says "Now, they want to force me to buy Twitter in court."
The last grid, which includes the photo of Musk laughing the most, reads "Now, they have to disclose the bot info in court."
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2022
Newsweek has contacted Twitter and Musk's representatives for comment.
Musk said in May he had secured financing to complete the deal, and he may have to pay a $1 billion fine to walk away from it. He is looking to avoid paying the fine by accusing Twitter of a "breach of multiple provisions" of the agreement, according to the letter Musk's team sent to the SEC on Friday saying he was terminating the acquisition.
"For nearly two months, Mr Musk has sought the data and information necessary to 'make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter's platform'," Musk's team stated in the letter. "Twitter has failed or refused to provide this information."
However, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said he was keen for the deal to go through, and the company's board has already approved it.
Musk himself is an active Twitter user, having more than 100 million followers on the platform.
He has said he wants to make the platform a more open space for free speech and added that he would reinstate former president Donald Trump's Twitter account, after he was suspended from the platform amid accusations that he stoked the January 6, 2021 riots in and outside the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
As of Friday, the last day of trading, Twitter shares were only $36.81, much lower than $50.98 they were at time of Musk's initial takeover offer.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Jack Dutton is a Newsweek Reporter based in Cape Town, South Africa. His focus is reporting on global politics and ... Read more
