He buys. He doesn’t buy. He’s buying. The most absurd takeover dispute in tech history could end with a volte that nobody expected. Elon Musk is reportedly set to take over Twitter for around $44 billion. His lawyers submitted this proposal to the company’s board of directors by letter.
The word alleged is of crucial importance. This is not due to the media, which reports on the Tesla boss’s change of heart and refers to anonymous statements. Bloomberg, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and Financial Times are credible sources. This is not due to the fact that there has been no official confirmation so far and Twitter has not commented on the reports. The most important reason for skepticism or at least caution is Elon Musk: The multi-billionaire has repeatedly demonstrated in recent months that his statements have about as much to do with his actions as a Tesla does with a Trabbi.
In April, Musk not only shocked Twitter shareholders, but the entire tech industry. Musk had been secretly buying blocks of shares for months until he suddenly announced: I don’t just want to own 10 percent of Twitter, I want to own my favorite toy entirely. The richest person taking over one of the most influential platforms in the world is a troubling notion, even discounting Musk’s taunts and his, at best, naïve conception of free speech.
Musk made excuses
Despite all concerns, both sides agreed on a takeover. Musk agreed in writing to pay $54.20 per share. But in the months that followed, he changed his mind more often than other people changed their underpants. It dawned on the successful businessman that he might have made a mistake with his Twitter deal. In the meantime, many big tech stocks had crashed, Twitter and Tesla also lost value, and the takeover looked increasingly bad for Musk. At the same time, when the Musk saw himself, it became clear that most Twitter employees had not even been waiting for the supposed savior. Running an online platform is different from building electric cars.
So Musk looked for reasons to drop the deal. Eventually he ended up with spam bots. Allegedly, that word again, Twitter has misled the public for years. Musk claimed that there weren’t real people behind a significant portion of Twitter accounts. There was no proof, but an almost admirable persistence. For weeks, Musk told his more than 100 million Twitter followers day in and day out about the alleged bot army that sets the tone on Twitter.
Musk did not mention that shortly before the purchase he had declared the fight against spam and fake accounts to be one of his most important tasks as a Twitter owner, even as a motivation for his decision. Instead, he publicly attacked a Twitter employee and responded with a poo emoji to Twitter boss Parag Agrawal.
Twitter sued Musk
Twitter and Musk switched roles. Having initially resisted the hostile takeover, the company now insisted, while Musk regretted the purchase and refused to pay the agreed price. Eventually, Twitter sued the Tesla boss into buying a company he no longer wants to own, hiring a law firm that once represented Musk in court.
The trial was supposed to start under these circumstances in mid-October, but apparently Musk is no longer interested in that either. The responsible judge had already let it be known that she Musk’s flimsy argument can gain little. Even the serious allegations made by the former Twitter security chief did not seem to have a lasting effect on the process in Musk’s favour. Before the multi-billionaire is forced to do so by a court, he probably prefers to buy Twitter voluntarily.
But an ending without drama would not be a fitting conclusion to this drama without an ending. Apparently, according to several US media outlets, Twitter is not yet sure whether to approve the proposal. The distrust is too great, too much trust has been destroyed in the past few months. To be continued, guaranteed.