It certainly appears that Musk’s $44 billion Twitter takeover is actually happening.
In a formal letter on Tuesday, the representatives of the billionaire informed Twitter in a formal letter that he plans to proceed with the turbulent deal, in addition to confirming the earlier claims that things were on the right course.
“In accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement, the merging parties intend to proceed with the merger,” says the Securities and Exchange Commission announcement.
Musk, along with Twitter, were set to appear in court to settle the matter, and the Tesla Musk and SpaceX chief executive asserted that Twitter was misleading him about the number of bots that existed on the network. Without proving the claims, Musk has alleged that up to 20 percent of the base was comprised of “fake/spam accounts.” Twitter has always maintained that less than five percent of its “monetizable daily active users,” which is a small portion of its total user base that serves as a measure for advertisers, is made up of bots. It is now clear that Musk is no longer planning to raise the issue.
“We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC,” Twitter informed TechCrunch in a statement that it posted via its Investor Relations website. “It is the intention of the company to close the transaction at $54.20 per share,” the statement read. Musk’s announcement sent Twitter’s share price up more than 12%, to $47 per share.
Twitter released this statement on the latest news: We have were sent a letter by the Musk parties, which they filed with the SEC. The goal for Musk’s Company is to conclude the deal at $54.20 per share.
— Twitter Investor Relations (@TwitterIR) October 4, 2022
In this letter, Musk is planning to move ahead with the settlement “provided there is a Delaware Chancery Court enter an immediate stay of the case, Twitter vs. Musk, et . al., in addition to adjourning trial as well as any other procedures.” In the simplest terms, Musk is down to take action in the event that the lawsuit doesn’t continue. But given Musk’s erratic nature, it’s likely that another wrench will be thrown into the works.
Although it’s unclear the reasons behind Musk’s change of mind, there have been numerous recent changes and twists in the weeks leading up to the trial, which was scheduled to begin on the 17th of October. The court has revealed a collection of Musk’s text messages regarding the deal that were discovered through the process of discovery, and the texts clearly indicate that he’s been a bit uneasy in light of the conflict in Ukraine and the ever-growing worsening global economic situation.
Another new twist was revealed the other night as Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled that Twitter was allowed to review messages from Musk’s circle of friends related to an unidentified email Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro received on May 6. In the email that was sent by ProtonMail, the sender identified themselves as an old Twitter executive, and requested Musk’s team members to follow up via a different channel.
Although the tipper was not identified, however, it is quite likely that the message was sent by the former Twitter director for security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, who claimed that he did not contact Musk prior to making public the whistleblower’s complaint in August. Musk’s team summoned Zatko towards close of august for witnesses and evidence that could prove that the revelations about security breaches within the company were significant enough to stop the deal.
Late Tuesday night, Musk tweeted that purchasing Twitter could be the “accelerant” to a different project entirely, “X, the everything app.” Musk’s enigmatic software-related plan is likely new to anyone who is on either side of the deal, but he did previously announce that he’d start a social media platform named X should the Twitter plan not work out. Musk has X.com as well as well as a holding company that bears the same name. However, an app named X appears more likely to be a vaporware project—or perhaps a joke—rather than something that could be actually realized.
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