Elon Musk says Twitter deal ‘temporarily on hold over spam’ – TechCrunch
TechCrunchSep 09, 2022
The Facts
In a tweet Fri., Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that his $44B purchase of Twitter is "temporarily on hold." He later added that he remains committed to the acquisition.
Musk attributed his pause to a desire to get more details on the number of fake accounts on the platform as well as the volume of account activity that constitutes "spam."
The Spin
Narrative A
Musk is a savvy businessman. This latest gambit will either depress the price of Twitter and allow him to renegotiate the deal on more favorable terms, or allow him to walk away altogether - just as a drop in Tesla's share price has made the venture less affordable for the billionaire.
Narrative B
Twitter's board could easily say "we can't give it to Elon Musk, he'll break it!" In fact, the board should have rejected Musk's offer from the start on the perfectly legal and rational grounds that he would have irreparably harmed the company if it evolved into his newest plaything.
