Elon Musk’s Twitter deal may still be in trouble, largely due to ongoing iterations of his issues with bots on the platform, according to reports from Yahoo Finance‘s Dan Howley on Friday.
While Twitter apparently provided Musk with the bot account data it had access to, it wasn’t confirmed as to whether the company included private data — and the data reportedly hasn’t stopped Musk from reconsidering the deal.
The Washington Post also reports unnamed sources are saying the Twitter-Musk deal is also possibly on the rocks, as discussions between both sides have stopped around “certain discussions”. Talks with a likely backer of the deal have also stopped.
One source said “Twitter has not been cooperative,” regarding the discussions.
Wedbush’s Daniel Ives says there are essentially three different ways Musk’s deal with Twitter could pan out now.
Elon Musk Hits 100 Million Followers on Twitter https://t.co/xhkniPrtrV
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) June 27, 2022
Ives said the most unlikely option at this point is for the deal to be completed in its current state, though he says this is unlikely at around a 5 percent chance.
Next, Ives says that Musk could renegotiate the deal at a lower price than the $54.20 per share he agreed to purchase the company at.
Finally, Musk could walk out on the deal, which could potentially lead him to fight the company in court.
If the deal isn’t completed, Musk will be subject to a $1 billion fine, due to a breakup clause included in the contract.
Last month, Twitter’s Board of Directors recommended that shareholders approve Musk’s purchase of the company, just weeks after Musk had pumped the brakes on the deal over Twitter bot account data.
