What a fun few months it’s been since Elon Musk threatened to buy Twitter! But all good things must come to an end, and this one, well, isn’t quite over. As per CNN, the Tesla and SpaceX honcho is officially doing what he’s been threatening to, which is worm his way out of the $44 billion deal to acquire the social media giant. This will probably lead to a court battle, but for now, people have jokes.
The rollercoaster ride began in January, when Musk quietly built up his Twitter shares. By March he was using his own account to launch polls to see if people thought the service should change. In early April he became its biggest shareholder, joined its board, left the board, then openly wondered if he should just buy it. Later that month he lined up the funds for the sale, and revealed some of his intentions, such as maybe reinstating the account for disgraced former president Donald J. Trump.
Alas, it was not to be. By mid-May, the sale was put on hold as Musk seemed to have buyer’s remorse even before he officially became a buyer. He was also called out for breaking the NDA in a tweet.
Now he wants out. A lawyer representing Musk claimed Twitter is “in material breach of multiple provisions” from the original deal. He himself has claimed, without evidence, that the service is overrun with bots and spam accounts. He also appears to want to avoid the $1 billion break-up fee as part of the original deal. Throughout the ordeal, Musk has tried to tweet through it.
Twitter, meanwhile, is planning to take him to court to force him to comply with the original offer.
Appropriately, news of Musk’s latest Twitter move was roasted on, of course, Twitter.
I can’t believe Elon Musk failed to deliver on a giant promise. Absolutely stunned by this development that has happened literally every time he’s promised something https://t.co/delDMWd6I7
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) July 8, 2022
You might think that Elon Musk backing out of a $44 bIllini Twitter deal is bad, but it’s nothing compared to when he backed out of his $6 billion promise to the UN to help solve world hunger.
— Read Let This Radicalize You (@JoshuaPHilll) July 8, 2022
Some made jokes about his multiple secret children.
Elon Musk pulls out, for the first time ever https://t.co/PeeChOoBdj
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) July 8, 2022
BREAKING: Elon Musk has terminated his deal to buy Twitter, which is shocking because I didn’t think he knew how to pull out of anything.
— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) July 8, 2022
Others used the occasion to demand Musk and other billionaires be appropriately taxed.
Elon Musk really makes a great case for why we should tax the hell out of billionaires.
— Jack Cocchiarella (@JDCocchiarella) July 8, 2022
If Elon Musk can afford to fork $1 billion to not buy Twitter, don’t tell me we can’t make a wealth tax work.
— Andrea Junker (@Strandjunker) July 9, 2022
There were plenty of other yuks as well.
If Elon Musk can afford to pay $1 BILLION to NOT buy Twitter, he can afford to pay his fair share of taxes.
— Jack Cocchiarella (@JDCocchiarella) July 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1545708310325633024
Elon Musk after trying to pull out the Twitter deal: pic.twitter.com/l3J4vqXTyn
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 8, 2022
Elon Musk's true genius appears to be developing supervillain schemes and then selling them to the public as innovation, and then not actually doing them.
— A.R. Moxon (juliusgoat.bsky.social) (@JuliusGoat) July 9, 2022
Elon Musk was as committed to running Twitter as he is to being a father https://t.co/c3Mcvm3UuV
— koofal (@keffals) July 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/Jakenimrich/status/1545664287540133894
(Via CNN)