Overview of the ‘drama’ that has not ended between Twitter and Elon Musk

If the deal goes well, the richest person on the planet will own one of the most influential social media platforms today. The deal isn’t just about Twitter, it’s about politics, media, and the impact on the tech industry in general.

But Elon Musk is also known for his capriciousness and unpredictability. The suspension of the deal to reassess the number of fake/spam accounts has fueled speculation that Musk is looking to renegotiate the price or pull out of the deal altogether.

Here is the overview of technology transactions that have consumed a lot of ink recently:

January 31: Musk begins to collect shares in Twitter

The South African billionaire quietly gathered shares of “Blue Bird”, but only revealed it a few months later.

March 14: Shares reach 5%

Musk’s stake in Twitter has reached the 5% threshold, and the Tesla CEO is required to notify the company within 10 days after the stake exceeds this threshold. However, it took 21 days for the public to know. During that time, Musk continued to stock up.

March 24: Hints at the change Twitter needs to make

The world’s richest billionaire started using the account to post articles related to changes Twitter could apply such as “open source algorithms” or “free speech”.

March 26: Musk contacts Jack Dorsey

The Tesla CEO contacted former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey to “discuss the future direction of social media.”

April 3: Twitter leadership discussed with Musk

According to the filing, the company’s board of directors met with representatives of law firm Wilson Sonsini and JP Morgan to discuss the possibility of Musk getting a seat on the Board of Directors.

At the meeting, Twitter’s board wanted Musk to commit to “limiting Twitter-related statements” including public proposals to buy the company without the approval of the Board of Directors.

April 4: Musk becomes the largest shareholder

The billionaire revealed to have become Twitter’s largest individual shareholder with a 9% stake. The news sent the company’s shares up 20% in pre-opening trading.

April 5: Musk agrees to join the Board of Directors

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Musk will join the Board of Directors.

In return, the Tesla CEO agreed not to buy more than 14.9% of the shares. The terms are expected to last until 2024.

April 10: Musk ‘turns the car’

Agrawal announced that Musk has decided not to join the Board of Directors. Reversing the decision opens up the possibility that the 50-year-old billionaire can buy more shares of the company and freely “tweet” what he thinks.

April 14: Musk offers to buy Twitter and “unlock” the company’s potential

Tesla CEO made an offer to buy all shares for $41.4 billion. This amount is 38% higher than the closing price of the company on April 1, the time before Musk revealed that he was the largest shareholder.

April 15: Dilution plan

Twitter’s management approved a “dilution of shares” provision to make it more difficult for Musk to acquire.

April 21: Musk announced that he had enough money

According to the filing, the 50-year-old billionaire claims to have settled $46.5 billion for the deal, which includes two loans guaranteed by Morgan Stanley and another unnamed entity, and a personal equity guarantee. CEO of Tesla.

April 25: Twitter agrees to sell me

“Blue Bird” announced approval of Musk’s $44 billion acquisition offer.

In a press conference at the end of the day, Musk said acquiring the company was “for the future of civilization”, not to make money.

April 29: Musk sells Tesla shares for cash

The filing shows that the Tesla CEO sold $8.5 billion worth of shares in the electric vehicle company three days after Twitter agreed to sell him, at an average price of $883.09 a share. The reason for the sale of shares was not detailed, but it appears that the money was used to raise funds to make the deal with Twitter.

May 4th: Help from an acquaintance

Musk raised an additional $7 billion. New investors include Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, cryptocurrency exchange Binance and venture capital fund Sequoia Capital.

May 6th: Goals for Twitter revealed

The Tesla CEO expects “Blue Bird” annual revenue to reach $26.4 billion by 2028, up from $5 billion in 2021. To achieve this goal, Musk intends to boost revenue. Sign up for services and set up a payment system, while reducing your dependence on advertising sales.

May 10: Musk confirmed he would unlock Trump’s account

The 50-year-old billionaire confirmed that he will unlock the account for former President Trump after the transaction is completed.

May 12: Hiring freeze and the departure of executive positions

According to CNN, Twitter said it had halted most of its hiring and replenishment activities, except for “critical business” positions, and recovered non-labor costs before the agreement.

In addition, Head of Consumer, Kayvon Beykpour, and Head of Product Sales, Bruce Falck were announced to have left the company.

May 13: Agreement on suspension

Musk announced the suspension of the deal to review the number of fake and spam accounts on the platform.

The company’s stock fell more than 10% after the market opened. Two hours after announcing the pause, Musk said he was “still committed to this deal.”

At the end of the day, the Tesla CEO said his team was checking the actual number of accounts “with a sample of 100, so the number Twitter uses to calculate the number of spam/fake accounts is less than 5%. “.

May 14: NDA breach?

Twitter’s legal team accused Musk of violating NDA terms by disclosing the social platform’s automated account prototypes.

May 16: Arguing with CEO Agrawal

The deadlock over the virtual account issue continues to grow as Musk and Agrawal argue on Twitter. While the Indian CEO explained in detail how the platform prevents and calculates the number of spam accounts, the Tesla CEO only responded with a provocative emoji.

May 17: Musk says the deal “can’t move forward”

The Tesla CEO insisted that he could not proceed with the agreement until more information about the status of spam accounts on “Blue Bird”, accusing the platform of providing false data in its records.

Although he did not provide evidence, the 50-year-old billionaire claimed that “20% of Twitter accounts are spam and bots”.

In response, Twitter stated that the company was “committed to executing the transaction based on the agreed price and terms as soon as possible”.

Vinh Ngo (According to CNN)