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Musk: Twitter deal hinges on spam bot evidence

Elon Musk said on Tuesday his Us$44-billion offer would not move forward until Twitter Inc. shows proof that spam bots account for less than five per cent of its total users, hours after suggesting he could seek a lower price for the company.

“My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate. Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5 per cent (spam accounts). This deal cannot move forward until he does,” Musk said in a tweet.

Hours later, Twitter said it was committed to completing the deal at the agreed price and terms “as promptly as practicable.”

Its stock pared losses in pre-market trading, but was down about three per cent at US$36.31, lower than its price on the day before Musk disclosed his Twitter stake, raising doubts if the billionaire entrepreneur would proceed with his offer of US$54.20 per share.

After putting his offer on hold last week, pending information on spam accounts, Musk said he suspected they account for at least 20 per cent of users compared with Twitter’s official estimate of five per cent.

“You can’t pay the same price for something that is much worse than they claimed,” he said on Monday at the All-in Summit 2022 conference in Miami.

Asked if the deal is viable at a different price, Musk said: “I mean, it is not out of the question. The more questions I ask, the more my concerns grow.”

“They claim that they have got this complex methodology that only they can understand ... It cannot be some deep mystery that is, like, more complex than the human soul or something like that.”

BUSINESS

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2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281852942174875

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