Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Elon Musk's Twitter deal - what's going on, how did we get here and what happens next?

Elon Musk's Twitter deal - what's going on, how did we get here and what happens next?

By 28 October, next Friday, Elon Musk will either own Twitter or be going to trial to attempt to force him to buy a company that he willingly made an offer for.

Elon Musk's prospective Twitter takeover has become a saga befitting of a football transfer window, with months of back-and-forth drama inevitably destined to form the basis of a tell-all book.

Now finally, half a year since the world's richest man offered to buy the social media company, Mr Musk appears close to going through with the deal.

By 28 October, next Friday, he will either close his takeover or be going to trial in a bid to force him to.

How on earth did we get here?


It started back in April, a whirlwind month that began with the self-confessed Twitter addict getting a seat on the board after becoming the firm's single biggest shareholder.

Shares in the platform surged after it was revealed he had bought a 9.2% stake worth almost $3bn, and he wasted little time in making suggestions - including an edit button and changes to the Twitter Blue subscription service.

Within a fortnight, Mr Musk had offered to buy Twitter outright, saying it was needed to uphold free speech.

"Since making my investment, I now realise the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form," he said in a letter to Bret Taylor, the Twitter chairman.

"Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company."

An agreement was quickly reached, and Musk appeared serious, seemingly moving to finance the deal by selling millions of Tesla shares.

But by the middle of May, Mr Musk said the deal was "temporarily on hold".

He was not happy about the apparently unacceptable number of bots on Twitter, and - appearing far less serious - sent a poop emoji to Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal when he questioned Mr Musk's assertions about fake accounts.

In June Mr Musk formally threatened to terminate the deal over "spam and fake accounts", and - despite Twitter promising to provide him with raw data to allay his concerns - he pulled the plug a month later.

Twitter's Parag Agrawal defended the firm's record on bots.


What's going on now?


The predicament was born from Twitter's decision to sue Mr Musk for cancelling the deal.

The chair of Twitter's board, Mr Taylor, tweeted that a lawsuit had been filed in Delaware, where the company is incorporated, "to hold Elon Musk accountable to his contractual obligations".

Despite the legal action, Mr Musk seemed determined to get out of the deal and subpoenaed a Twitter whistleblower who claimed the company misled federal regulators about its security risks.

A court document revealed that he also issued a subpoena to his friend Jack Dorsey, the former Twitter boss.

It was all with a view to the lawsuit going to trial in Delaware on 17 October - and then everything changed. Again.

Less than two weeks before the case was due to begin, Mr Musk proposed to go ahead with buying Twitter at $54.20 a share - a total value of $44bn (£38.4bn).

Just when we thought we were out, he pulled us back in.

Twitter shareholders and lawyers - once bitten, twice shy and all that - have seemed understandably dubious, and a Delaware judge pushed the trial date to give Mr Musk time to get his finances in order.

His deadline is 28 October.

Jack Dorsey was to be subpoenaed if the case went to trial


And what happens next?


Who knows?!

But seriously, this time Mr Musk appears to be genuine about going through with the deal - and the fast-approaching deadline means it could be announced any day now.

If, for any reason, the deadline was missed, it would lead to a trial in November.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×