OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
It appears the legal fight between Elon Musk and Twitter has come to an end.
The Tesla, Starlink and Space X CEO has agreed to purchase the social media giant for the original price he offered, $54.20 per share, The New York Times reported.
But it was not immediately clear whether Twitter planned to accept his offer, which could be seen as a negotiating tactic by Mr. Musk to halt Twitter’s litigation against him. Mr. Musk is scheduled to be deposed on Thursday and Friday in Austin, Texas, according to a legal filing. Twitter could ask for court supervision for the deal to ensure that Mr. Musk follows through with his offer.
The potential deal comes after months of disputes that have created existential challenges for Twitter, cratering its share price, demoralizing its employees and spooking the advertisers it relies on for revenue.
A deal at the original price would be a victory for Twitter, which struck an agreement with Mr. Musk to buy the company for $44 billion. Mr. Musk declared in July that he no longer intended to complete the acquisition because he believed Twitter’s service was overrun by spam. Twitter sued him soon after to force him to complete the deal.
“Twitter shares jumped as much as 15% on Tuesday after Bloomberg first reported on the Tesla CEO’s plans to go forth with his deal to acquire the company. The stock was halted after the report,” CNBC reported.
CNBC added:
A few weeks after Musk agreed to the deal earlier this year, valuing Twitter at $44 billion, he quickly tried to back out, officially informing the company in July of his intentions to terminate the agreement. Twitter sued Musk to force him to go through with the purchase. The two sides were scheduled to go to trial in Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 17.
Musk alleged that Twitter was misstating the number of “bots” on its service as one of the reasons he was reneging on the deal. He and his lawyers claimed that the social media company was misleading investors by providing false numbers in corporate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Twitter countered, however, that Musk’s assertions of fraud were incorrect and were based on a misunderstanding of the way the company tallies bots and fake accounts on its platform.
It came days after Musk was not pleased with remarks made by Vice President Kamala Harris regarding the prioritization of disaster relief.
The billionaire SpaceX and Tesla founder and CEO called out Harris after she said the Biden administration was initially focused on relief for minorities because of “equity” and the White House’s desire for everyone to be “in an equal place.”
Harris’ comments, which were seen has highly racist by Musk and others, came during back and forth with leftist Priyanka Chopra during a women’s leadership forum in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Democratic National Committee, The Daily Wire reported.
“It is our lowest income communities and our communities of color that are most impacted by these extreme conditions and impacted by issues that are not of their own making,” claimed the vice president in regards to emergency responses to Hurricane Ian. “And so we have to address this in a way that is about giving resources based on equity, understanding that we fight for equality, but we also need to fight for equity, understanding not everyone starts out at the same place.
“And if we want people to be in an equal place, sometimes we have to take into account those disparities and do that work,” Harris added.
Musk responded: “Should be according to greatest need, not race or anything else.”
Should be according to greatest need, not race or anything else
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2022
Others took issue with Harris’ race-tinged remarks.
“The response in my state of Florida has been incredible. My Governor and Floridians are handling the aftermath remarkably. Kamala is exploiting our misfortune to pander to a voter bloc to ahead of the midterms,” noted Josie The Redheaded Libertarian.
“Agreed. Really disgraceful to see her priorities when folks have lost their homes, and some even their lives. Thank you, Elon!” added Students for Trump founder Ron Fournier.
“This is false. @VP’s rhetoric is causing undue panic and must be clarified. FEMA Individual Assistance is already available to all Floridians impacted by Hurricane Ian, regardless of race or background,” Christina Pushaw, communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ reelection campaign, noted.
“It’s just jaw dropping that she is talking about prioritizing ‘communities of color’ when the hardest hit communities are like 95% white. Not that it should ever matter in any case,” she added.
