Elon Musk Puts $44 Billion Twitter Deal 'On Hold' [Updated]
Elon Musk is putting his $44 billion takeover of Twitter "temporarily on hold" after the company claimed that less than 5% of its users are spam or fake accounts.
The Tesla chief tweeted on Friday that the deal was being frozen while he waited for details backing up Twitter's claim:
"Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users."
Musk linked his decision to a May 2 Reuters report referring to a filing with the US financial regulator, in which Twitter asserted that fake and spam accounts represented less than 5% of its daily average users:
We have performed an internal review of a sample of accounts and estimate that the average of false or spam accounts during the first quarter of 2022 represented fewer than 5% of our mDAU during the quarter. The false or spam accounts for a period represents the average of false or spam accounts in the samples during each monthly analysis period during the quarter. In making this determination, we applied significant judgment, so our estimation of false or spam accounts may not accurately represent the actual number of such accounts, and the actual number of false or spam accounts could be higher than we have estimated.
Following Musk's announcement in April that he was offering to buy Twitter, the Tesla CEO said that he wanted to make the social media platform "better than ever" with new product features that will defeat spam bots and authenticate all humans.
As Friday's story broke, Twitter's share price fell by as much as 25% in pre-market trading, and is currently down around 15%.
Update 4:53 a.m.: In a follow-up tweet, Musk says he is "still committed to the acquisition."
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Related Stories
Elon Musk no longer plans to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, according to Reuters. Musk told Twitter this evening that he is calling off the deal because of "material breach of multiple provisions of the agreement."
Back in April, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, and Twitter agreed to accept the offer in late April. Since then, the deal has been up in the air because of an ...
As promised, Twitter today sued Elon Musk in an attempt to force Musk to go through with the $44 billion purchase of Twitter, reports Reuters. Twitter in the lawsuit accuses Musk of trashing the company, disrupting its operations, and destroying stockholder value.
Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement,...
Twitter today announced it's launching "Twitter Circle," its new feature that allows users to share tweets, photos, videos, and more with only select users they choose.
The feature had been in testing since May and allows users to create a custom group with up to 150 accounts and share tweets with only those users rather than publicly. With Twitter Circle, people now have the flexibility...
Twitter has agreed to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's offer to buy the company for $44 billion, Twitter announced today. Bloomberg was first to report early Monday morning that a deal between the two parties was imminent. Two weeks ago, Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share. Twitter and Musk, following weeks of speculation and public drama, agreed today to the $44 billion deal. Earlier...
Twitter is testing a new status feature that lets users tag posts with pre-defined labels, similar to the statuses that the old LiveJournal and MySpace platforms allowed.
Several users this morning began reporting that they could post Twitter statuses with an accompanying emoji, and the company has since confirmed to TechCrunch that it is currently testing the feature with a select group in...
Thursday September 1, 2022 5:56 am PDT by
Sami FathiTwitter has officially started testing an edit button for Twitter Blue subscribers, allowing users to edit their tweets for typos and mistakes even after they've already been published, according to a tweet from the company's official account today.
Twitter had previously confirmed it was working on an edit button but offered no details on when it may be available to users for testing....
Twitter today announced that it is testing a new Twitter Circle feature, which is designed to allow people to share their tweets with a smaller crowd.
With Twitter Circle, Twitter users can share their tweets with up to 150 people, rather than sharing their content publicly. Each user will be able to create a Twitter Circle that consists of people who will be able to see the user's Twitter...
It's not just you. Twitter is down for many users in the U.S. and several other countries around the world on Thursday, July 14. Both the Twitter mobile app for iPhone and Android and the Twitter website are not working right now due to the server issues.
Some affected users are receiving a "503 Service Unavailable" alert that says "the Twitter servers are up, but overloaded with requests."...
Popular Stories
Sunday September 25, 2022 2:27 pm PDT by
Sami FathiA YouTuber has put Apple's claims for the durability of the Apple Watch Ultra to the test by putting it up against a drop test, a jar of nails, and repeated hits with a hammer to test the sapphire crystal protecting the display.
TechRax, a channel popular for testing the durability of products, first tested the Apple Watch Ultra by dropping it from around four feet high. The Apple Watch...
Upon the release of the second-generation AirPods Pro, the AirPods Max became the oldest current-generation AirPods product still in Apple's lineup. Introducing several new features like Adaptive Transparency and the H2 chip, the second-generation AirPods Pro may provide some of the best indications yet of what to expect from the second-generation AirPods Max.
Almost two years later, rumors...
Sunday September 25, 2022 10:57 am PDT by
Sami FathiAs we approach the end of a busy product release season for Apple with only new iPads and Macs left to be announced over the next month or so, we're also setting our sights on 2023. Apple is rumored to have several major products in the pipeline for next year, including new Macs, a new HomePod, a VR/AR headset, and so much more.
Other than new iPhones and Apple Watches, which are expected...
Sunday September 25, 2022 6:50 am PDT by
Sami FathiApple may decide to release its remaining products for 2022, which include updated iPad Pro, Mac mini, and 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, through press releases on its website rather than a digital event, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple is currently "likely to release its remaining 2022 products via press releases,...
The Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra are now available to purchase, but if you aren't interested in these updates you can save a lot of money on Series 7 models right now on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
The best deals are on cellular...
Sunday September 25, 2022 7:02 am PDT by
Sami FathiApple is gearing up to possibly replace its "Pro Max" iPhone with an all-new "Ultra" iPhone 15 model next year, reliable Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman said today.
Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that for the iPhone 15, Apple is planning a revamped design alongside USB-C and a potential name change. Apple could replace its "Pro Max" branding, which it started to use...
Friday September 23, 2022 9:40 am PDT by
Sami FathiCustomers who personalize their second-generation AirPods Pro charging case with an engraving will now have that engraving reflected directly on iOS as they pair and connect their AirPods Pro. Apple allows customers to personalize their AirPods Pro charging case with a special engraving that can include select emojis and Memojis. Unlike before, starting with the second-generation AirPods...
Monday September 26, 2022 7:34 am PDT by
Sami FathiToday marks exactly two weeks since Apple released iOS 16 to the public. Besides the personalized Lock Screen, major changes in Messages, and new features in Maps, the update has also seen its fair share of bugs, performance problems, battery drain, and more.
After major iOS updates, it's normal for some users to report having issues with the new update, but such reports usually subside in...
Apple plans to release new MacBook Pro models in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to supply chain publication DigiTimes. The report does not mention specific models, but it very likely refers to the next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros given that the 13-inch model was already updated earlier this year.
There has been uncertainty surrounding the timing of new 14-inch and...
Top Rated Comments
He lives on a one way street.
Over the years Twitter has become nothing but a toxic cesspool of politics, from either side.
Goodbye Twitter. The account has been dead for months and will stay that way.
Realistically for a turd circling the bottom of the bowl it’s pretty overvalued.