The month of April 2022 was just the initial chapter on Elon Musk Twitter purchase . Three months after the announcement of the first offer to acquire the social network, the richest man in the world withdrew from the acquisition because he did not believe that the number of bots and spam accounts reported by the social network corresponded to the real number of this type of account.
However, according to Bloomberg and The Washington Post newspaper , Musk has reconsidered his decision and should finally become the owner of one of the most used websites in the world. But this maneuver may have a judicial motivation. Understand right now.
Decision can be a strategy to avoid process
In July 2022, the richest man in the world announced that he would no longer be purchasing the bluebird social network because he believes that the number of bots and spam accounts is greater than that announced by the platform, equivalent to 5% of the 220 millions of users.
One of the main purposes for Elon to buy Twitter was just that: to end up with fake accounts that cause problems for users. He himself was hacked and had tweets posted on his official account to promote cryptocurrency investments. As he did not believe the data reported by the social network, the billionaire canceled the acquisition.
But Twitter did not leave the matter behind: a lawsuit was filed accusing Musk of sabotage to save himself from the purchase started in April. The first hearing took place on July 19, 2022 and Judge Kathaleen McCormick of the Court of Delaware , accepted a flash process to take place between October 17 and 21.
Now, Musk ‘s lawyers may have guided the purchase in line with the initial proposal to avoid problems. If he lost the lawsuit, he would have to pay around $1 billion to the social network as a fine, but that would also tarnish his name in the investment market. We reported in April 2022 that the billionaire was willing to pay $44 billion for all shares, which would be $54.20 per share.
What would Twitter be like with a new owner?
An almost certain change is the resignation of the current CEO, Parag Agrawal . Elon has already revealed in an exchange of messages that being the CEO of Twitter is one of his dreams and the two also exchanged barbs publicly on the social network itself. He also claims that “Parag is too slow” to make the Twitter purchase deal happen and that “drastic action” is needed for the social network to change.
If he closes the proposal to pay US$ 54.20 per share, Musk had previously stated that he would fight hard to give users greater freedom, since the social network serves as a large “public square”. It is not yet known how this would happen, but the great fear of experts is that big brands fail to invest in paid media in an environment that does not have content moderation.
Other changes such as human authentication to avoid scams and even bringing the edit button to all users (apart from the exclusivity of Twitter Blue subscribers ) are in Musk’s sights, but it is important to note that these proposals are still nothing more than theory.
The creation of the X app by Elon Musk
On October 4, 2022, Elon Musk posted on his Twitter account with more than 107 million followers that the acquisition of the social network could “accelerate the creation of X , the app for all things”.
The billionaire’s great desire is to develop a digital environment where people can do everything: from postings about everyday actions to even payments. This would follow in the footsteps of WeChat , which started out as a simple messaging app in China and can now be used for gaming and even shopping.
In June 2022, he even said in a meeting with employees of the social network “that, basically, people live inside WeChat in China. If we can recreate that, we will be a big hit.”
What’s Next When Buying Twitter?
In order to accept the purchase of Twitter following the initial offer of US$ 44 billion, Musk asked the Delaware court, in the US, that his deposition scheduled for October 17 be postponed and the entire process be suspended, since he is resolving with the social network. A tweet was posted by the official Twitter account Investor Relations (Twitter investor relations), citing that the purchase process is underway:
However, internal sources say shareholders are skeptical of the decision and there are doubts that it is all a major judicial maneuver. Musk ‘s lawyers are also concerned that, as the first victory was given to Twitter , the billionaire will have to face inconsistent statements that could bring more problems (and more lawsuits).
The purchase still needs to pass approval from the SEC , the US Securities and Exchange Commission , which is only expected to complete the process in 2023. Other shareholders also need to agree to the sale of all their shares, which should take time to happen. After the announcement of the possible acquisition, Twitter shares closed up 22.36% compared to October 3rd.
Do you think the purchase of the social network will finally happen? Tell us in the comments !
Fontes: The Verge l Tech Crunch l Bloomberg l The Washington Post
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