Twitter deal hangs in the air because of bot debate
The takeover of the social media platform with the blue bird is going anything but smoothly. The new owner-to-be, Elon Musk, first wants to clarify how high the share of Twitter bots is. Is this how the billionaire wants to push down the purchase price?
The ink on the takeover agreement for the social media platform Twitter has been dry for a few weeks now. But the mega-deal has not gone quiet. That, mainly because of the prospective new owner Elon Musk. The richest man in the world has repeatedly spoken out via Twitter since the deal was announced.
Interested in takeover - less interested in the current price
On Monday, Musk reiterated his fears in an interview at a technology conference in Miami. According to the New York Times, the billionaire stressed that Twitter's official numbers were implausible. An acquisition of Twitter at a lower price is therefore "not out of the question," Musk added.
Still-CEO Parag Agrawal counters
On Monday, Parag Agrawal, Twitter's current CEO, intervened in the debate. In a lengthy Twitter thread, the CEO explained that they take the bot issue very seriously. At the same time, he emphasized that blocking bot accounts is technically complex and that the problem changes rapidly each time.
Also, Agrawal reiterated in his thread that bot populations on Twitter are below five percent. In addition, he explained that correct estimates could not be made from the outside because private data would also have to be used for this purpose. Finally, the CEO confirmed that Musk had been given an overview of these processes a week ago. The latter only answered Agrawal with a poop emoji ("Poop Emoji").
Expensive clauses
Why Musk is reviving the bot debate right now is unclear. After all, the issue is not new. Why such ambiguities were not cleared up in advance of a billion-dollar deal remains a mystery.
It is unclear whether Musk actually wants to push down the price with his tweets, wants to dodge a deal at the last second, or is simply firing off tweets without any larger ulterior motives. What is clear is that a change of course at this point would have expensive consequences.
To extricate himself from the mega-deal, the Tesla and SpaceX CEOs could again use a "material adverse change clause." This governs which party bears the risk of negative events during the transition phase of an acquisition. However, lawyers interviewed by the New York Times assume that Musk would have few arguments for this in court with the snap purchase of the social media platform.
Titelbild: Shutterstock
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