Elon Musk has pulled out of a multi-billion dollar deal to take over Twitter.
Back in April, it was announced that the Tesla founder and entrepreneur had seemingly acquired the social media platform for approximately $44billion (£34.5b), per The Independent.
His offer was initially turned down by Twitter, which put a “poison pill” measure in place to stop a takeover attempt by Musk. However, the two parties later entered talks before the deal entered its final stages of negotiations.
Now, in a statement provided to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, representatives for Musk claimed that Twitter had breached terms of their agreement and alleged that it “appears to have made false and misleading representations”.
His legal representatives also claimed that Twitter had not provided data and information requested by Musk to allow him to “make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts” on the social media platform.
They said in a statement: “Sometimes Twitter has ignored Mr Musk’s requests, sometimes it has rejected them for reasons that appear to be unjustified, and sometimes it has claimed to comply while giving Mr Musk incomplete or unusable information.”
As per Sky News, the terms seemingly require Musk to pay a $1bn (£830m) break-up fee if the transaction isn’t completed.
However, it now seems that Twitter won’t accept this and intend to sue Musk in light of the failed deal.
In a tweet, Twitter chairman Bret Taylor said the company is “committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement”.
“We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery,” he added.
The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
— Bret Taylor (@btaylor) July 8, 2022
Back in April, Musk shared a glimpse into his policy for the platform. “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter because that is what free speech means,” he tweeted.
He later posted a quote on the platform in which he claimed that “free speech is the bedrock to a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”
He also explained that he aims to make the social media site “better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust”, and said he plans to “defeat spam bots … while authenticating all humans”.
“Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” Musk concluded.
At the time of the deal going through, reactions from the entertainment world were negative.
Geoff Barrow wrote: “Hi Elon, you’re a twat. How’s about that for freedom of speech?” Meanwhile, Anton Newcombe added: “Tell him and his ilk to go fuck themselves and provide directions.”
Questlove tweeted, “Welp. What now,” while Jameela Jamil announced she was quitting Twitter after hearing the news that Musk had bought the site. “Ah he got Twitter,” Jamil said.
“I would like this to be my what lies here as my last tweet. Just really *any* excuse to show pics of [her pet dog] Barold.”
She went on to express her concerns over what direction Twitter would head in under Musk. “I fear this free speech bid is going to help this hell platform reach its final form of totally lawless hate, bigotry, and misogyny,” Jamil wrote. “Best of luck.”
The announcement of Musk’s takeover came as Twitter faced increasing pressure from politicians and regulators over its content. In the past, the website has been criticised for its handling of misinformation, fake news and potentially harmful posts.
Last year saw Donald Trump get banned from Twitter as well as Facebook and Instagram. Trump had been accused of encouraging violent supporters of his, who last January stormed Capitol Hill in protest of the 2020 US Presidential election result.
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