Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the Twitter acquisition could not move forward without proof of fake accounts.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the $44-billion Twitter deal is currently on hold, and it is not moving forward unless Twitter shows proof that less than 5% of the accounts on the social media platform are fake / spam.
On Tuesday, Musk replied in another tweet regarding the deal, “20% fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be *much* higher. My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate. Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%. This deal cannot move forward until he does.”
Meanwhile, Twitter filed a preliminary proxy statement with SEC that outlines its negotiations with Elon Musk. It also said in a statement that “Twitter is committed to completing the transaction on the agreed price and terms as promptly as practicable.”
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal also tweeted that they are “fighting spam incredibly” and “Our actual internal estimates for the last four quarters were all well under 5% – based on the methodology outlined above. The error margins on our estimates give us confidence in our public statements each quarter.”
Last month, Elon Musk offered to buy the social media platform for $54.20 per share. The deal was accepted at a total of $44 billion. Musk’s deal was backed by Morgan Stanley and other banks.
Musk also sold some of its Tesla shares, which was reported to help finance the deal.