Twitter Deal with Musk: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla, announced on Friday that the agreement to buy the microblogging platform has been placed on hold.
Elon Musk, the billionaire, announced on Friday that the USD 44 billion plan to buy Twitter has been put on hold indefinitely due to pending specifics on spam and fraudulent accounts.
Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla, announced on Friday that the agreement to buy the microblogging site had been placed on hold.
“Twitter negotiations are currently on hold while details supporting the calculation that spam/fake accounts account for less than 5% of users are gathered.
during the first quarter, monetizable daily active users
According to a report published by Reuters on May 2, Twitter estimated in a filing that fraudulent or spam accounts accounted for less than 5% of its monetizable daily active users in the first quarter.
In the first quarter, the social media business served advertising to 229 million users.
It also stated that until the deal with Musk is finalized, it faces various risks, including whether advertisers will continue to spend money on Twitter.
Musk, who just agreed to buy Twitter for USD 44 billion, stated that one of his first priorities would be to get rid of “spambots” from the platform.
In premarket trading, shares of the social network firm plunged 17.7% to USD 37.10, the lowest since Musk revealed his ownership in the company in early April and made a “best and last” bid to take it private for USD 54.20 per share.
On Tuesday, when Twitter shares fell below USD 46.75, the estimated probability of the deal closing at the agreed price dipped below 50% for the first time.
Musk previously stated that removing “spambots” from the platform will be one of his top goals.
Twitter’s moderation policy has been criticized by Musk. He has stated that he wants Twitter’s algorithm to emphasize public tweets and that he opposes giving advertisers too much power on the platform.
He said earlier this week that if he acquires Twitter, he will lift the ban on former US President Donald Trump, suggesting his aim to reduce the site’s moderation.