tech

Elon Musk says Twitter deal 'temporarily on hold'

28 Comments
By KELVIN CHAN

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28 Comments
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A lot of super-wealthy people posting today. Ha!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Woah turns out that Musk is a lying charlatan again, who could have guessed? Except for anyone with two brain cells.

Well, he loves to keep the people on edge, the deal will eventually go through. Just need to weed out all of those fake accounts and then it's a full GO.

Twitter has nothing to do with freedom of speech,

Yes, it does, because if it didn't then a ton of conservatives would still be on the platform. The Ayatollah is less dangerous than Trump or MTG? Seriously? It has EVERYTHING to do with FREE SPEECH!

and Musk doesn’t care about freedom of speech in any event.

Then he wouldn't have purchased Twitter.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” Musk said, indicating he’s skeptical that the number of inauthentic accounts is that low.

Seems like a reasonable calculation to make.

Yes the so called liberals ( fake liberalism ) will do anything to stop him buying it...

Which has nothing to do with the talking point partisan hackery that follows Musk related content.

Define real "liberalism". Classical liberalism? The neo-liberal market ideology shared by most on both sides of the political divide when presented with a "choice" in a representative democracy?

The "libs" used by conservative pundits for progressive social issues? probably the latter but I doubt the people who use the term even realize what they are referring to.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Due diligence is normal, if not usually quite so public.

I don't think Musk is 'buying Twitter' so much as leading a purchase, largely funded by banks, hedge funds etc. Banks and hedge funds don't care about free speech, but about profitability.

I doubt the penalty could be levied if information produced by Twitter was found to be inaccurate.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Yes the so called liberals ( fake liberalism ) will do anything to stop him buying it...

If Twitter is free and open then people will see the truth ...

1 ( +9 / -8 )

Because freedom of speech is much more important than SpaceX or Tesla.

Twitter has nothing to do with freedom of speech, and Musk doesn’t care about freedom of speech in any event.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

@Farmboy, great article. Mr. Musk is so full of himself and he thinks his companies are so big an important he can do as he wishes while basically daring any level of government to stop him.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I predicted here a week or two ago he may very well back out of the deal. The amount of stock he has to sell to afford to buy Twitter is driving Tesla's stock prices down, leading to stockholder anger. He can possibly borrow against his stock options but Tesla imposes a limit on this. Mr. Musk already has significant borrowing against his options so he many not be able to borrow more, or borrow enough to finance the Twitter purchase before hitting the limit, forcing him to sell stock to raise money. He has supposedly sold $8 billion in stock but needs to raise I believe half the $44 billion necessary to buy Twitter. But as he sells the value falls. The sight of the company founder unloading that much stock isn't going to inspire confidence in Tesla on the broader market. On top of that the stock options he already borrowed against could cause a margin call if Tesla's stock price falls below a certain level, and the banks are not saying what that level is. If Tesla's stock price falls too low the banks could call those loans, forcing Mr. Musk to sell still more stock, further lowering the stock's value. In the end he may not have the means to complete the deal.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

The Twitter thing was just a ruse to sell stock since he isn’t very liquid. He needed a reason.

He’s got enough on his plate with SpaceX and Tesla. Why would he screw around with Twitter?

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Woah turns out that Musk is a lying charlatan again, who could have guessed? Except for anyone with two brain cells.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

If Twitter is free and open then people will see the truth ...

What is “the truth”? As a reminder, truth requires evidence.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

”Hey, this company Twitter has burned through $2 billion in 10 years. Let’s invest in it!”

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Musk is manipulating the market for personal gain. That's illegal and the SEC should go after him for doing this.

There's a reason that many buyouts of public companies are announced AFTER the deal has been made. Musk didn't learn this, because he wanted to cause the stock to fluctuate wildly. With stocks, we can make money when it rises or when it falls. Just need to be positioned correctly. 30% in a month is a tidy profit.

I'm only anti-Musk when it comes to violating SEC rules and his belief that 100% freedom of speech should be allowed. 5 yrs ago, I though freedom of speech should be absolute, but then I learned that about 50% of Americans are extremely gullible and will believe dumb lies. We seen a few of those in posts here daily, from all political spectrums..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Elon Musk said Friday that his plan to buy Twitter for $44 billion is “temporarily on hold” as he tries to pinpoint the exact number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform, another twist amid signs of internal turmoil over the proposed acquisition.

It's a lot - but that's well-known already

Why is he acting like it's new news

Is he looking for an excuse to back out of the deal

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The "libs" used by conservative pundits for progressive social issues? probably the latter but I doubt the people who use the term even realize what they are referring to.

So many words like that have been twisted up by Orwellian pukes into epithets for bullies to use. t's disgusting how our language gets so mangled. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Pink is blue.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oh, and Musk cannot walk away by simply paying a $1 billion break up fee. That comes with conditions such as an outside issue prohibiting the sale. He also can't use it as a tactic for a lower price. He'd be liable for billion more.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Hmm, is 'Buyer's Remorse' starting to eat at élan already? Maybe he is beginning to realize that his judgement, while enviable, is not 100%...

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

 I though freedom of speech should be absolute

Here is the problem with that statement. The 1st Amendment prohibits any level of government from a-priori censorship or from banning the expression of opinions. You can criticize government, religion or anything else and the government cannot prevent you from doing so. But the 1st Amendment also means the government cannot control the press. Take any newspaper, radio or TV station. Many have a political alignment. That is their 1st Amendment right in the US. You can write a letter to the editor critical of something the newspaper said, or critical of some politician or proposed law the newspapers editorial board supports and that newspaper is under no obligation to print your letter. Many do for the sake of being perceived as "balanced" but they are not obliged to and the reality is that only a very small proportion of letters ever get published. The newspaper has complete editorial control of its content and that control is a right protected by the 1st Amendment. Yet some like apparently you think a private company like Twitter or Farcebook is somehow obliged by this notion of free speech to publish every comment made. No, it doesn't work that way. Just like the newspaper they have control over the content of their platform and have every right to publish or not publish any point of view they like. The nice thing about the 1st Amendment is it protects the right of the other side to form their own media and publish their own opposing point of view. But the 1st Amendment does not oblige a private firm or corporation to publish content that it objects to. That would in fact violate the 1st Amendment.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Is he looking for an excuse to back out of the deal

No. He is trying to cause Twitter stock price to fall so he can negotiate a lower price to close the deal. If this can be proven then he could go to jail but he is both arrogant and overconfident enough to think the SEC and the courts won't touch him. He will likely paint any attempt to investigate or prosecute him as political persecution.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Just waiting for him to tweet a trollface.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

$42.00 per share is the price considering all the fake accounts, workers who threaten to quit, threatened lawsuits and users who threaten to move to Canada (but wont).

will be a lot of work to find all the algorithms and correct them. Need to hire competent people who won’t subvert that progress from within.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Why would he screw around with Twitter?

Because freedom of speech is much more important than SpaceX or Tesla.

-3 ( +6 / -9 )

I’m pretty sure this whole thing was so Musk could punk republicans to get some attention.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

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