Billionaire Elon Musk has once again proposed his original $44 billion bid to buy Twitter, according to a securities filing filed on Tuesday, signaling the end of a legal battle that could have forced Musk to acquire. the net.
A deal would put the world’s richest man in charge of one of the internet’s most influential social media platforms and end months of a turbulent court dispute that has crippled the Twitter brand and bolstered Musk’s reputation for eccentric behavior.
The Tesla CEO will take over a company he originally pledged to buy in April, but has tried to reverse the decision by accusing Twitter of lying about the number of fake accounts and spam on the network.
Twitter shares jumped 12.7% to $47.93 before trading halted for a second time following the deal, while Tesla shares rose about 2.4%.
The news comes ahead of a clash between Musk and Twitter at the Delaware Court of Chancery [um tipo de corte de arbitragem extrajudicial] on October 17, in which the company sought to force the billionaire to close the deal for $44 billion.
Musk sent a letter to Twitter on Monday saying he intended to proceed with the settlement in its original terms if the Delaware judge stayed the case. A source familiar with the Twitter staff told Reuters that at a hearing on Tuesday morning, the judge asked both sides to report what had happened.
It was not immediately possible to determine why Musk chose to walk out of the courtroom. He was about to testify.
Twitter received Musk’s letter and intended to close the deal for the original price of $54.20, a spokesperson told Reuters.
Musk agreed in April to buy Twitter for $44 billion, and a few weeks later said the number of “bot” accounts was much higher than Twitter’s estimate of less than 5% of users. Bots (robots) are automated accounts and their use can lead to overestimates of how many people are on the platform, which is important for advertising rates and the overall value of the service.
Musk, one of Twitter’s most prominent users, said in July that he could pull out of the deal because Twitter misled him about the number of real users and the security of their data.
Twitter’s legal team said on Sept. 27 that documents obtained from two data scientists employed by Musk showed they estimated the number of fake accounts on the platform at 5.3% and 11%.
“None of these reviews, as far as we can tell, remotely supported what Musk told Twitter and told the world in the termination letter,” Twitter attorney Bradley Wilson told the court.
The original agreement was “a very seller-friendly agreement that would be very difficult to get out of,” said Adam Badawi, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Musk realized, he said, that “in all likelihood this would result in forcing him to close at $54.20 a share.”
If it went to the deposition, Musk would face days of questioning whether he turned over all the evidence he owed to Twitter and when he became aware of the bot count data on his side, said Eric Talley, a professor at Columbia Law School.
“He was about to testify, and a lot of uncomfortable facts would be revealed.”
Twitter employees, caught off guard in the midst of meetings on Tuesday, expressed disbelief in the tweets.
“I build on the company-wide strategic readings for 2023 and I think we’re going to collectively ignore what’s happening,” wrote Rumman Chowdhury, director of machine learning ethics, transparency and accountability at Twitter.
another twist
A deal between the two sides would revive fears among Twitter users over Musk’s plans for the platform, which removed key politically conservative voices. Donald Trump supporters are hoping that Musk will reactivate the account of the former president of the United States, who was banned after the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
A renewed commitment to the deal would give Musk, one of the world’s most prominent and outspoken businessmen, a megaphone for his opinions. He used Twitter to stir up controversy, including on Monday when he launched a peace plan for the Ukraine War that was quickly condemned by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Text messages that surfaced during the litigation showed that Musk planned to fight spam by verifying accounts, wanted to move Twitter away from advertising for subscriptions, and to embrace services like money transfers.
Bloomberg was the first to report that Musk was willing to pay the original price.
An original price deal would also allow Musk to fund the transaction without complications. If Musk and Twitter had renegotiated the price, they would technically allow committed supporters to walk away.
Musk has sold $15.4 billion worth of Tesla stock since agreeing to buy Twitter. He said he no longer intends to sell his Tesla stake, but some analysts expect him to sell it later to fund the Twitter deal.
As Twitter has already received shareholder support for the sale to Musk, the deal could close quickly in the coming weeks if the two sides reach an agreement on the original terms. In June, Twitter said the waiting period for antitrust clearance had expired, indicating the deal could move forward.
Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves
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