The saga continues. Following comments made by Elon Musk at the Miami summit regarding his belief that the proportion of fake accounts on Twitter was 20% instead of the 5% announced by the platform, the billionaire clarified his position.
As a reminder, these remarks were followed by the suspension by Elon Musk of his offer to buy Twitter for 44 billion dollars.
Elon Musk vs Parag Agrawal
“20% fake accounts/spam accounts is already four times what Twitter is claiming, and that number could be much higher,” denounces Elon Muskadding that his offer was based on the veracity of documents filed with the stock market policeman of the United States, the SEC.
“Twitter’s CEO has publicly refused to show proof of that 5%. The agreement will not be able to move forward if it does not do so, ”adds the billionaire.
For its part, Twitter published an account of the negotiations that took place with Elon Musk on Tuesday, revealing that the billionaire did not raise any questions regarding non-public issues relating to the company. Problems that he then mentioned to suspend his offer to purchase.
An offer too fast?
Reuters has also published Twitter’s proxy statement regarding Elon Musk’s offer. This document, submitted to the SEC, indicates the details of the transaction to allow shareholders to give their opinion on the agreement. And the latter reveals that the Tesla and SpaceX boss rushed to strike a deal, with his “best and last” offer.
According to this document, Elon Musk would therefore have negotiated a $ 44 billion agreement last April without carrying out any due diligence.
“Elon Musk has not requested to enter into a confidentiality agreement and has not sought to obtain non-public information regarding Twitter from Twitter,” the company insists in its statement.
Elon Musk could lower the price
Moreover, Elon Musk does not exclude the possibility that the transaction will take place, but at a lower price. During the Miami summit, the billionaire indeed mentioned this scenario. “A lot of factors are at play here. I’m still waiting for a logical explanation for the number of fake accounts and spam accounts on Twitter. And Twitter refuses to answer me. It seems strange to me, ”adds Elon Musk.
In the previously mentioned proxy statement, however, Twitter insists on its determination to “conclude the transaction at the agreed price and conditions as quickly as possible”. The document also states that if the transaction goes through, Parag Agrawal, the CEO of Twitter, will pocket $60.2 million. Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal will receive $46.4 million. As for Vijaya Gadde, lead lawyer of the platform, he will receive 30 million dollars.
This document also reveals that Elon Musk allegedly announced on Twitter that he was considering creating a competitor.
Source: ZDNet.com