On May 17, local time, Musk said that if Twitter cannot publicly prove that the number of fake accounts on the platform is less than 5% of the total number of accounts, he will terminate the acquisition of Twitter. A day earlier, Musk pointed out that the actual number of fake accounts on the Twitter platform could be four times the official Twitter estimate, or 20 percent. Musk hinted that he may restart negotiations on the deal and lower the offer.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal promised Musk in a tweet that Twitter’s fake account rate is indeed “well below 5%,” but it’s hard to come up with proof in order to protect users’ private information . Musk clearly does not buy this explanation.
Some analysts pointed out that Musk questioned and suspended the transaction at this point, which raised concerns about whether he would use this issue as an excuse to abandon his previous offer or even withdraw from the transaction entirely. If he seeks a lower purchase price, Musk may face more regulatory investigations; if he withdraws from the deal, he needs to pay Twitter a “breakup fee” of $1 billion.
As of the close of U.S. stocks on May 17, Twitter’s stock price was at $38.32, about 30% lower than Musk’s previous offer of $54.2 per share.
Musk: If Twitter can’t come up with fake account data, the acquisition will end. Click on the video to see what it is!