Elon Musk says he wants to close his $44B Twitter-quistion this month, but the saga isn’t over
Texting “jack jack”... Elon’s pet name for Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. Last week, a trove of texts were made public ahead of the Elon v. Twitter trial — and pet names weren’t the cringiest revelation in Elon’s messages. The latest season of the Elon-Twitter saga heated up this week, with some Emmy-worthy plot points:
- NVM: Elon told Twitter he'd buy the company at his original offer price of $54.20 per share, after aggressively trying to back out of the deal over what he said were spam-bot issues. Musk’s legal team reportedly likely lost confidence it could win.
- Blue bird flies: Twitter shares have popped 15% since Tuesday, but are still lower than Elon’s offer price (many say he’s overpaying for the struggling company).
- Hot court date: Yesterday Musk said he wanted Twitter to call off existing litigation so that he could close the deal this month. Twitter seems to think Musk’s team is only trying to stall again. The trial was scheduled to start on October 17, but then…
On the next episode… Late yesterday a Delaware judge ruled that Elon has until October 28 to seal this deal if he wants to avoid a trial. If the deal doesn’t close, the trial will be moved to November. Key deets still need to be hashed out, including debt financing. If those get resolved, the two sides could file a motion to end the lawsuit (which would save both parties a pricey headache).
It could be just the beginning… of Twitter’s A.E. (After Elon) era. If the deal closes, a new chapter begins for the internet’s “town square.” Musk, the self-proclaimed “free-speech absolutist,” wants to loosen moderation rules — including reinstating banned accounts like former President Trump’s. He’s also suggested that an open-source algorithm could address mysteries around how posts are promoted. While some are stoked about Elon’s nebulous plans, others (including many Twitter employees) are concerned about the platform’s safety.