Elon Musk‘s purchase of Twitter just took a major hit, which is reigniting speculation that the whole thing was just a giant troll. Early Friday morning, Musk announced that the deal is on hold because he now doesn’t believe the social media’s numbers on the amount of fake accounts.
“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users.” Musk tweeted. “Still committed to acquisition.”
Still committed to acquisition
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2022
Musk’s announcement arrives on the heels of both a cryptocurrency crash and news that Twitter shares have dropped significantly below Musk’s purchase price. Musk’s announcement that the deal is on hold caused Twitter shares to drop even further, and analysts now believe Musk is using Twitter’s disclosure on fake accounts to weasel out of the deal. His leveraging of Tesla never quite made sense, and now, that calculus is proving to be even more precarious. Via The Wall Street Journal:
The tweets come as many big tech stocks have been falling on Wall Street, including shares of Tesla, which are down 29% over the past month. Mr. Musk is using his Tesla holdings to help fund the Twitter deal. Meanwhile, Twitter’s stock price had traded below Mr. Musk’s offer price as investors wondered if the deal might get reworked or not get done.
Mr. Musk might be using Twitter’s recent disclosure as a means to get out of or renegotiate the deal, said Daniel Ives, a technology analyst at Wedbush Securities. One reason is the impact on Tesla shares since the deal was announced.
While analysts hedge their bets on Musk’s next move, actual Twitter users are being a bit more blunt. Musk is currently being roasted for announcing that the purchase is on hold (#ElonsProblems started trending shortly thereafter) and a significant amount of people are convinced Musk was never really going to buy the site in the first place.
You can see some of the reactions below:
Well, looks like that whole Elon Musk takeover of Twitter got delayed.
Or ended.
I'm sure it has nothing to do with Tesla's stock tanking or any of his potential cryptocurrency investments crashing. #ElonsProblems
— Ant 💀 Waiting on Edits For My Novel (@AGramuglia) May 13, 2022
Let me get this straight. Musk is backing out of the deal unless Twitter fix what he claimed he was going to fix? This guy is full of shit. #ElonsProblems
— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) May 13, 2022
We definitely believe you… pic.twitter.com/KIaEQwCp3k
— Chad Ryan (@ChadwikoTWW) May 13, 2022
This is really why the deal is on hold: Since Elon Musk bid for Twitter we've seen Tesla stock drop from $1,100 a share to now $726 a share. He now would have to sell much more Tesla stock to finance deal. He's petrified to go bankrupt like Trump has. #ElonsProblems https://t.co/rsREhPSOKg
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) May 13, 2022
I think anyone who uses Twitter as much as you would have a feeling 10-20% of accounts are bots.
— Tom Goodwin (@tomfgoodwin) May 13, 2022
Imagine tanking your own stock to own the libs. Then losing the bid and paying a $1B penalty.
That's rich. 😆 #ElonsProblems
— Jeff on X (@JeffFromNH) May 13, 2022
I think Elon Musk has been trolling us all along about buying Twitter….🤣#ElonsProblems
— 🖤🦋Rowan Moon🦋🖤 (@oXxRowanxXo) May 13, 2022
So what had happened was pic.twitter.com/xjeNiAveGP
— Kaylan_TX (@Kaylan_TX) May 13, 2022
#ElonsProblems Smart guy overconfidence.
Being a genius at something does not make one an expert on all things.— danny kean (@dannykeanmusic) May 13, 2022
Per @Reuters: Elon Musk put his $44-billion deal for Twitter "temporarily on hold" on Friday while he awaits data on the proportion of its fake accounts, sending the shares in the social media platform plunging. #ElonsProblems
I told you. pic.twitter.com/zHVewp6yKK
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) May 13, 2022
(Via Wall Street Journal)