READ: Elon Musk’s Letter to Twitter Agreeing to $44 Billion Purchase — If Trial Adjourned

Jackson RichmanOct 4th, 2022, 4:42 pm
 
Elon Musk

Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg, Getty Images

Twitter has said it will go ahead and close the $44 billion deal it had with Tesla owner and CEO Elon Musk to acquire the social media company.

In a letter to Twitter, Musk’s lawyer, Mike Ringler, wrote that his client “intend[s] to proceed to closing of the transaction contemplation by the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein and pending recipet of the proceedssa of the debt financing contemplated thereby, provided that the Delaware Chancery Court enter an immediate stay of the action … and adjourn the trial and all other proceedings related thereto pending such closing or further order of the Court.”

Musk initially struck the deal to buy Twitter at $54.20 a share. Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Musk was moving forward with his offer to acquire Twitter at the full price he agreed to.

Musk then tried to back out of the deal, stating that he was not satisfied with Twitter’s handling and accounting of bot accounts. Twitter took him to court, accusing him of breaking the terms of the acquisition agreement, where the case is pending.

The case was set to go to trial on Oct. 17.

Musk’s about-face is a victory for free speech advocates on the right, who have criticized Twitter for censoring conservatives and content including The New York Post report on Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election. Musk called the censorship of the story “incredibly inappropriate.”

Musk has said that former President Donald Trump would be allowed back on the platform were he to acquire Twitter. Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter following the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. Critics have said that if Musk takes over Twitter, disinformation, such as Trump’s lie that he won the 2020 election, would be allowed to spread on the platform.

Tags: