Musk and Twitter: From volatile courtship to messy divorce

Elon Musk’s pursuit of Twitter was a melodrama from starting to finish — a risky courtship between a mercurial billionaire and the massively influential social media platform.

That relationship — an apparent love-hate affair from Musk’s facet — now appears set to finish in an acrimonious divorce.

All of it started with an costly first date: Musk — a longtime Twitter person identified for inflammatory tweets — snapped up 73.5 million shares at a value of practically $2.9 billion.

The acquisition, which was revealed in an April 4 regulatory submitting and gave him a 9.2 per cent stake within the firm, despatched Twitter shares hovering and sparked hypothesis that Musk was searching for an lively position within the social media firm’s operations.

It additionally earned him a seat on the board. CEO Parag Agrawal introduced the provide — in a tweet, after all — and known as Musk “a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is precisely what we’d like.”

However the honeymoon did not final lengthy: Agrawal mentioned on April 10 that Musk had determined towards becoming a member of the board, a transfer the Twitter CEO believed was “for one of the best.”

Slightly than amicably parting methods, Musk launched a hostile takeover bid for the corporate, providing $54.20 a share, an April 13 submitting confirmed.

After saying it will “rigorously assessment” the provide, Twitter adopted a “poison tablet” protection, saying a plan that may permit shareholders to buy extra inventory.

Then got here the plans for a stroll down the company aisle: Twitter reversed course and mentioned on April 25 that it was promoting to Musk in a deal valued at $44 billion.

However weddings might be costly, so Musk took motion to cowl the price, parting with $8.4 billion in shares in electrical carmaker Tesla. He pledged as much as $21 billion from his private fortune, with the remainder financed by debt.

Musk was already planning his new life with Twitter, saying just a few days later that he would raise the ban on Donald Trump, which was handed down after the January 2021 riot on the US Capitol by the then-president’s supporters.

‘Deal briefly on maintain’

However Musk quickly started exhibiting indicators of chilly toes, saying on Could 13 that the deal to purchase Twitter was “briefly on maintain” pending particulars on spam and pretend accounts on the platform.

In early June, advocacy teams determined to talk now as a substitute of endlessly holding their peace, launching a marketing campaign to cease Musk from going via with the acquisition, which they mentioned would permit him to “hand a megaphone to demagogues and extremists.”

Musk in the meantime accused Twitter of failing to supply knowledge on pretend accounts, and threatened to withdraw his bid.

On June 16, nevertheless, he provided indicators that the match was nonetheless a go, pitching a imaginative and prescient to Twitter employees of a one-billion-user platform. However he was hazy on points akin to potential layoffs and free speech limits.

The break-up

All of it got here crashing down on July 8, when Musk known as off the marriage and accused Twitter of creating “deceptive” statements concerning the variety of pretend accounts.

The break-up between the billionaire and the social media platform is ready to be removed from pleasant.

Twitter’s chairman tweeted that the corporate will pursue authorized motion to implement the deal, establishing a dear showdown because the divorce heads to courtroom.

Revealed on

July 09, 2022