Tesla CEO Elon Tesla and his team have begun to audit 100 of their Twitter followers in order to determine if they are spam or bot accounts.
Musk stated earlier that, using a Twitter regulatory filing from a week ago, he wanted the deal to be paused to confirm that spam or false accounts were less than 5% of 229 million company users in the first quarter.
Musk posted Thursday that his purchase of Twitter for $44 billion was being held while he examines its internal audit.
He said that Friday’s results were not surprising and added: “To discover, my team will randomly select 100 Twitter followers. Let’s see what others discover .
Later, Musk joked about how “The bots are mad at being counted.” Twitter’s official Twitter account @Twitter has 61.7 millions followers. This means Musk has many options.
He also stated that the man who is considered to be the richest in the world was committed to the purchase.
Twitter reports that less than 11.4 Million fake accounts are being targeted by ads. This would be if Twitter’s data is correct. Musk’s Twitter following is 92.4 millions.
Tesla CEO Elon Tesla (pictured) went to a Beverly Hills Hotel dinner party on Thursday evening just hours after he had put off his Twitter acquisition.
Musk was seen attending a private dinner party in Beverly Hills on Thursday just hours before hitting pause on his Twitter deal as former President Donald Trump weighed in on the takeover.
Musk was spotted by security guards being led into Beverly Hills Hotel to attend a dinner party.
Musk looked glued to his cell phone, as he was about to shock Wall Street with an announcement that the deal to purchase Twitter would be placed on hold.
Trump suggested on Friday’s Truth Social platform that Musk wants to make a deal for Twitter, after Musk agreed to pay $54.20 per shares.
Former US President said that the reason Tesla CEO hadn’t canceled the Twitter deal was due to the $1 billion breakup fee.
Trump responded to the criticisms by stating that Elon Musk would not buy Twitter for such an exorbitant price.
Elon said that he would not have been gone had it not been for the absurd Billion Dollar breaking up fee.
The world’s richest man appeared to be glued to his phone as he entered the building escorted by three security guards
Musk stated that he is still committed to buying the social media company for $44 billion, pending investigation into the number of spam accounts on the site.
Musk attended the party wearing a dark cap and a green shirt, black pants and sneakers.
Musk may have to bail out of this deal or face a $1B breakup fee from Twitter. He could also be sued for contract breach by the social media giant.
Many speculated that Musk had put off the purchaseout in order to negotiate a better deal.
This week, Musk has also sparked fierce debate after saying he would allow Trump back on Twitter if and when he takes the reins, in line with his previous declarations that he planned to err on the side of free speech rather than bans and censorship.
Trump stated repeatedly that he doesn’t plan on going back to Twitter once he was removed following the Jan 6 Capitol riot.
Musk’s tweets surprised investors early Friday, sending Twitter stock plunging as speculations arose that Musk may be trying to get a better deal or pulling out entirely.
Parag Agrawal (Twitter CEO) insists that he expects the deal still to go through, as the company prepares for power transfer.
In a lengthy Twitter thread on Friday, Agrawal wrote: ‘While I expect the deal to close, we need to be prepared for all scenarios and always do what’s right for Twitter.’
Agrawal spoke out on Thursday about his decision to fire the top Twitter execs. He said that he’s ‘accountable” for operating and leading Twitter and that it is up to us to help build stronger Twitter each day.
Musk could be sued for breach of contract by Twitter if he walks out on the agreement.
A senior M&A lawyer familiar with the deal told CNBC that Twitter could also sue Musk if he were to try and abandon the deal simply because he felt he overpaid.
Like Trump, others have speculated that Musk’s surprise move on Thursday came as a result of trying to renegotiate a better deals as Twitter stocks have dropped since the buyout was set at $54.20 per share last month.
Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Senior Research Analyst, stated that “This is likely a negotiation tactic for Elon.” “The market is down significantly.” He may be using the deception of real active users as a bargaining tactic.
Trump, last week, stated that Musk should pay $54.20 per shares. Musk said that he will allow Trump to return on Twitter after he becomes CEO.
Parag Agrawal (left), CEO Twitter, and member of its board has insistent that Elon Musk’s $44 Billion acquisition of the company will still be completed.
The shares of this social media company plunged as much as 25% in premarket trades today, continuing the massive downtrend since Twitter’s Board accepted his bid to buy it on April 25, 2015.
His tweet had no legal impact. Analysts were puzzled by the fact that the announcement was made via Twitter and not through a regulatory filing.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called Musk’s tweet “bizarre” and stated that it ‘now turns this entire deal into a circus with many questions but no concrete answers.
Ives said in a note, “Many will consider this Musk’s use of the Twitter filing/spam account to exit this deal in an extremely changing market.”
He said, “If Musk decides to continue down the deal pathway, a clear negotiation is possible,”
Twitter’s share prices have fallen since April 25, which is a signal that Wall Street doesn’t believe that the deal at $44 Billion will go through.
Tesla shares were under severe pressure due to concerns Musk might have to sell his remaining holdings in order to pay for his Twitter acquisition.
Tesla shares rose about 5 percent on Friday, after Musk secured $6.25 billion in financing for the acquisition.
Tesla stock is currently in a slump and has fallen 28 percent over the last month. Investors are concerned that Musk will not pay attention to the Twitter deal and that financing problems could force Musk to sell more of his Tesla assets.
There are concerns that Musk will not be able to finance Twitter’s purchase due to the drop in Tesla shares. To secure the $6.25 Billion margin loan, Musk will need to sell more than 25% of Tesla’s shares at Thursday’s closing prices.
Analysts were puzzled by Musk’s sudden concern over Twitter’s estimation that 5 percent are fake accounts. This estimate was something that Twitter has been including in its regulatory filings for many years.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s analyst Susannah Streeter stated that “This 5% metric” has been available for some time. He would surely have noticed it already… It may be part of the plan to reduce the price.
She said, “It will be extremely frustrating for many people in the company since a lot of senior executives were laid off,”
Yesterday it was announced that US regulators are investigating Tesla CEO Tesla’s Twitter acquisition. This was after he failed to report the purchase and did not give sufficient notice of a potential takeover bid.
In mid-February, the 50-year old made his first purchase in Twitter’s 9.2 percent stake.
He did not inform the Securities and Exchange Commission of his purchase until 10 days after, which was April 4.
Investors who have more than a 5 per cent stake in a company must submit a 10-day form to the SEC. The form serves as an indication to all stakeholders that big investors may be looking to gain control over the company.
Musk’s April 4 filing described Musk’s stake in Twitter as passive. He did not intend to influence Twitter’s management nor business.
He was then offered a spot on Twitter’s board. A few weeks later, he had secured a deal worth $44 billion to purchase the social media company.
The Wall Street Journal reported the first report on Wednesday about an investigation into SEC.