Musk Halts Twitter Takeover Pending Proof of Fake Account Numbers
Elon Musk pauses his $44 billion Twitter acquisition until the company proves its claim that fake accounts make up less than 5% of users. Twitter insists the deal proceeds at the agreed price despite Musk's assertion that spam accounts actually total around 20%.
Elon Musk announces that his $44 billion purchase of Twitter does not move forward until he receives clear proof regarding the number of fake or spam accounts on the platform. Musk states that his original offer relies entirely on the accuracy of Twitter's SEC filings, which claim that fewer than 5% of monetizable daily active users are fake.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal explains that the company calculates its spam estimates through random sampling and human reviews, noting that external parties cannot accurately replicate this process. Agrawal points out that determining the exact number of spam accounts requires access to both public and private data that Twitter cannot share publicly.
Despite this public standoff, Twitter reiterates its commitment to completing the acquisition at the previously agreed-upon price and submits a proxy filing to the SEC. Analysts suggest Musk uses this bot controversy as leverage to negotiate a lower purchase price amid a broader market downturn, causing Twitter shares to slip in premarket trading.