Some serious buyers’ remorse there. Hope he kept the receipt!
He ain’t getting his billion back. Not sure about specific performance, although it will all drag through courts. That legal team will be busy…
It’s so obvious that twitter has a shitload of fake accounts as well as fake followers. The board would most definitely be as misleading as legally possible. The real number of bs accounts will not only effect the takeover, it will effect the stock price as well as the amount of money advertisers would be willing to spend on advertising campaigns.
To be completely clear, twitter are not in breach of the agreement.
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I’m trying to remember the podcast where it was discussed, possible an Ezra Klein one, but their analysis of it was that Musk’s most viable exit strategy was to simply walk away and hope the legal process of forcing him to pay the fine was too troublesome to pursue.
Musk declined to do any due diligence before he made his offer. As @Limiescouse says, Twitter have done nothing wrong here. Musk has since used it as an excuse for not going through with the deal. There has been a lot of doubt within the investment community from the moment he talked about buying it that he would ever see it through.
Breach of agreement and conditional for due diligence are separate, correct? Not my area. I know if you buy a house, you sign an offer to purchase dependent on financing (if you require) and home inspection (in order to determine if house is damaged). In a business deal worth billions I assume there are many more hurdles to jump through before the sale is final.
There is a good article about Musk pulling out of the deal here.
There is little sign that Twitter have been at fault here and all signs point to Musk just using any argument he can to not proceed with the deal.
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That is the due diligence that is the step prior to signing the agreement to buy. In trying to negotiate this deal in public he passed on his opportunity to take that step. At this point now the standards for twitter being considered in breach are really difficult to reach and would essentially require their public filings to be illegal. The argument Musk is making is not approaching anything like that sort of accusation and so this seems like he is simply trying to win this argument in the court of public opinion.
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When I first became aware of Musk, years ago, I was drawn to his genius and drive. All that is still there, but as the years have gone by my perception has evolved, and nowadays I mostly think he is a cock. Possibly dangerous too, but there’s a whole mix there, so however you choose to view him, there’s plenty to back it up.
I didn’t think the Twitter thing would go through. He wants a megaphone, he wants control, and he doesn’t want accountability. Twitter was, presumably, intended to be his vehicle to anoint the powerful, even Presidents, and to squish opponents. But he doesn’t want to play by established rules, and wants to do it all in the court of public opinion, not just on this deal but even to the point asking his followers about whether or not he should pay taxes.
It’s all gone a little bit Barnum and Bailey.
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Ironically, the Musk fanboys and the bots will do that for him.
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Speaking of which: has anyone seen @Klopptimist today? 
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Yes, my wife did earlier from very close quarters. She was wearing more than me but in a very good way 
Amazingly the Twitter board are not not pursuing the $1b penalty, but the full buy out 
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Read an article on the Twitter-Musk thing, and it sounds like they have him by the balls to have to follow through on the deal. The offer was at $54 a share, and currently it is trading at $34 (or something like that from memory).
Musk is trying to pull out of the deal and the legal basis he has put forth doesn’t carry much water, apparently. He’s whining about fake accounts, which was always in play when he made his grandstanding offer. He is also whining about some of the hires that have been made. The article I read said that he won’t prevail, legally.
It may be a precursor to try to negotiate a lower price, perhaps closer to the current share price, but Twitter does not legally have to accept that, and even if a revised deal was hammered out, there exists the possibility that existing shareholders - who were due $54 a share from the Musk purchase, will litigate.
It has been an interesting one to follow. And therein lies the problem, I suppose. It all should be thrashed out in a boardroom, negotiated, lawyers, the lot. And nobody outside the room should know a thing until it is signed, sealed, delivered.
But we seem to be in a world where things that used to be private, and considered, are now public and not well thought out.
I going to stop posting here when I am filthy rich. The abuse would hurt my feelings.
But you’d have to be ruthless and thus wouldn’t care
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I have read that this happens a lot and it’s a rare outcome that allows the bidder to pull out of the deal. The majority of the time it is a renegotiation, and the initial price is not the final price. As per the norm, the company doesn’t want a protracted legal fight as it’s not in the best interest of the shareholders. There is now a $20b? Mismatch in the offer vs the value based on current stock price, and that amount gives Musk a huge incentive to pull out or renegotiate. At the end of the day if it goes to the courts, I assume it will be years? Musk already owns at least 10%, I wonder if that plays into it at all?
I don’t think that is the case here, given the slump in share price there is every reason it is worth Twitter pushing this as the contract is in their favour.