Elon Musk says he's terminating $44B Twitter buyout deal
San Francisco (AP): Elon Musk's tumultuous 44 billion bid to buy Twitter is on the verge of collapse after the Tesla CEO sent a letter to Twitter's board Friday saying he is terminating the acquisition.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a message for comment. It is not entirely clear whether Twitter's board will accept the 1 billion breakup fee or if there will be a court battle over the deal.
The possible unraveling of the deal is just the latest twist in a saga between the world's richest man and one of the most influential social media platforms. Much of the drama has played out on Twitter, with Musk who has more than 95 million followers lamenting that the company was failing to live up to its potential as a platform for free speech.
On Friday, shares of Twitter fell 5% to 36.81, well below the 54.20 that Musk had offered to pay. Shares of Tesla, meanwhile, climbed 2.5% to 752.29.
In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk said Twitter has not complied with its contractual obligations surrounding the deal, namely giving Musk enough information to make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter's platform.
Musk's flirtation with buying Twitter appeared to begin in late March. That's when Twitter has said he contacted members of its board including co-founder Jack Dorsey and told them he was buying up shares of the company and interested in either joining the board, taking Twitter private or starting a competitor. Then, on April 4, he revealed in a regulatory filing that he had became the company's largest shareholder after acquiring a 9% stake worth about 3 billion.
At first, Twitter offered Musk a seat on its board. But six days later, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted that Musk will not be joining the board after all. His bid to buy the company came together quickly after that.
Musk had agreed to buy Twitter for 54.20 per share, inserting a 420 marijuana reference into his offer price. He sold roughly 8.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help fund the purchase, then strengthened his commitments of more than 7 billion from a diverse group of investors including Silicon Valley heavy hitters like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Inside Twitter, Musk's offer was met with confusion and falling morale, especially after Musk publicly criticized one of Twitter's top lawyers involved in content-moderation decisions.
As Twitter executives prepared for the deal to move forward, the company instituted a hiring freeze, halted discretionary spending and fired two top managers. The San Francisco company has also been laying off staff, most recently part of its talent acquisition team.
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Udhayanidhi accuses BJP of not releasing funds for TN
Gobichettipalayam (PTI): Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Saturday charged the BJP government at the Centre with not releasing funds to the state and accused it of "snatching" TN's rights.
Addressing a poll rally at Gobichettipalayam in the western Erode district, the DMK youth wing chief claimed the Centre has not released funds to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore for education.
"They (union government) have snatched all our rights," he charged.
With regard to the Centre's proposal for delimitation, he said chief minister M K Stalin was the first person in the country to raise the voice against the union government's move. He claimed that it was a "huge victory" for the INDIA alliance, as the bill was defeated for lack of majority after the opposition voted against it in the Lok Sabha.
Listing out various welfare measures implemented by the DMK government, he said the existing "Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai" (monthly financial assistance for women) will be doubled to Rs 2,000 if DMK was voted to power again.
The deputy chief minister charged that the BJP and AIADMK have tried to stall it by moving the court. "At present more than 1.3 crore women have benefited from the scheme", he said.
"Similarly, the breakfast scheme for the government school students will be extended till Class VIII", he said adding "more than 35 lakh college students across the state will be getting free laptops once the DMK government is formed".
Udhayanidhi also pointed out at the "Illatharasi" poll promise, providing Rs 8,000 worth of coupons to non-income tax paying women where they could buy or replace any household appliances of their choice.
Elections to 234 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 23 and the results declared on May 4 following counting of polled votes.
