Well, this news sucks. The hope so many had for Twitter to experience a rebirth of free speech and expression could be dead. Elon Musk says he's backing out of the deal to buy Twitter.
The billionaire entrepreneur who had delivered a proposal to the social media giant's board has had endless questions about the data surrounding the number of spam accounts. Musk intended to make the company private again with a $44 billion purchase. Now, a big legal fight could be brewing between the two sides (via Axios):
JUST IN - Elon Musk terminates $44 billion Twitter deal.
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 8, 2022
MORE - SEC filing: Twitter is in material breach of multiple provisions of that Agreement, appears to have made false and misleading representations.https://t.co/XhWsEG1bSx
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) July 8, 2022
Elon Musk is bailing on his $44 billion agreement to buy Twitter, claiming that the social media company hasn't met its contractual obligations, according to a statement filed with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
Why it matters: This could set up a massive legal fight between Musk and Twitter, with a Delaware court as the deal's ultimate arbiter.
Behind the scenes: Musk largely waived due diligence before agreeing to buy Twitter at a price that seemed high even before the broad decline in tech stocks.
Since signing the deal, however, he's argued that Twitter is likely undercounting the number of "bot" accounts on its platform, and demanded access to related data.
Twitter has provided Musk with some data, but also has maintained its intentions to close the merger at the agreed-upon price and terms.
In his letter to the SEC, Musk also argues that Twitter's decision to fire two top executives breached the merger agreement, as did certain employee layoffs and hiring freezes.
Conservatives lauded Musk because he would purge the old guard who has censored right-leaning outlets and accounts for years. At least, that seemed like what could have been the future of this company. The news of Musk potentially buying Twitter caused their "woke" employees to have emotional breakdowns. Now, it looks like they're going to be popping champagne soon. It's a disappointing turn of events, to say the least.