After a lot of back and forth, it looks like Elon Musk’s deal to take Twitter private is BACK ON, and he’ll be one-hundred percent owner by Friday.
Bloomberg News reports, a courtroom fight over one of the most contentious acquisitions in recent history may be avoided after Elon Musk revived his bid for Twitter Inc. at $54.20 per share.
People familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information, said Musk made the proposal in a letter to Twitter. As a result of the news, Twitter shares climbed 18% after trading was briefly halted.
In April, Musk signed a deal to acquire Twitter. Musk has tried to back out of the deal for months. Immediately thereafter, he began showing signs of buyer’s remorse, alleging Twitter misled him about the size of its user base and the prevalence of automated accounts.
The news first spread on Twitter on Tuesday as employees sat through 2023 planning presentations, multiple sources reported. Staffers saw the news spreading on their own social network, but presenters didn’t acknowledge it. Since the deal was signed, Musk has been openly mocked and criticized on internal Slack channels by many employees.
As noted by The New York Post, a trial was set to begin on Oct. 17 over Musk’s refusal to complete the deal.
At the time, Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor said that the board would be suing Musk and that the board was “committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk.”
Twitter’s lawyers were scheduled to depose Musk on Thursday and Friday this week, raising the possibility that the last-minute deal was made in part to avoid it.
Reactions on Twitter were swift.
