Twitter in, Elon Out! Shareholders Vote for buyout when He is not Willing

Twitter has sued Musk to complete the deal, and a trial is set for October.

Twitter shareholders have approved Elon Musk's US$44 billion buyout deal. The microblogging site said a preliminary count shows shareholders endorsed the Tesla CEO's bid to buy the social media platform for US$44 billion, even as he tries to break the contract. Twitter has sued Musk to complete the deal, and a trial is set for October. In July, Elon Musk first sent a letter to terminate the deal, alleging that Twitter violated the agreement by misrepresenting the number of spam and fake bot accounts on its platform. This comes as Twitter whistleblower Peter 'Mudge' Zatko testified before a United States Senate committee about his claims of security lapses at the social media giant. Zatko was the former head of security at Twitter.

Twitter's board unanimously agreed to sell the platform to Musk for US$44 billion in April, in a deal that stirred controversy and questions about free speech and misinformation on the popular social media platform. But a couple of months later, Musk's lawyers said Twitter failed or refused to respond to multiple requests for information on so-called "spam bot" accounts, which is fundamental to the company's business performance – and they moved to back out of the purchase.

"Sometimes Twitter has ignored Mr. Musk's requests, sometimes it has rejected them for reasons that appear to be unjustified, and sometimes it has claimed to comply while giving Mr. Musk incomplete or unusable information," they said in a July filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Musk wanted to pull out of the deal because the social media company was in "material breach" of their agreement. He disclosed in a series of regulatory filings that he unloaded about $6.9B Billion shares of his company Tesla Inc.

Elon Musk has sold nearly $6.9 Billion worth of shares in Tesla:

Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement. Twitter Inc., reiterated that it will hold Elon Musk accountable for the terms of his proposed US$44 billion takeover offer after the billionaire again threatened to pull out of the deal over the issue of bots. Musk claimed that Twitter held back critical information and misled his team about the size of its user base.

Musk alleges that Twitter committed fraud, breach of contract, and violation of a securities law in Texas, where Musk lives. Musk on Twitter mentioned that in the hopefully unlikely event that Twitter forces this deal to close and some equity partners don't come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock.

Musk offered to buy Twitter earlier this year, then tried to back out of the deal claiming the social platform was infested with a larger number of "spam bots" and fake accounts than Twitter had disclosed. Musk's lawyers said he tried for nearly two months to obtain information about fake accounts on the platform, which he claimed Twitter never provided.

Will Twitter control the narrative if Musk takes over?

Twitter plays a crucial role in shaping the news and promoting political agendas. It is a platform where journalists, intellectuals, and other influential people express their views regarding incidences around the world. So, yes, if Musk acquires Twitter, he might be able to control the narrative and eventually make Twitter an advocate of the free press. Well, now it seems like Musk was not so much in the 'goblin mode' when he decided to take over Twitter.