(John McCann, Headline USA) Elon Musk‘s Twitter buyout is moving ahead at full speed as the tech company has agreed to share their data and provide transparency.
Twitter’s acquiescence comes after Musk accused the company of being in “material breach” of contract for refusing to allow Musk access to the Twitter database. This breach led Musk to putting the deal on hold until Twitter agreed to his demands.
Twitter will provide Musk with a real-time record of more than 500 million daily tweets and the accounts that send them, reported Blaze Media. Musk has demanded this data so that he and his team can ascertain the number of fake or spam accounts that exist on the platform.
Purging these “spam bots” is one of Musk’s top priorities once he takes Twitter private. The billionaire has pledged to “authenticate all real humans” on the platform and to eradicate the bot presence or “die trying.”
Twitter claimed that spam or fake accounts only made up fewer than 5% of users. Musk has doubted these claims, arguing that the percentage is closer to 20%. Musk wanted to see the data to know for sure but Twitter was hesitant, prompting Musk to threaten pulling out of the deal.
Skeptics have accused Musk of simply wanting to lower the price of the buyout. A high percentage of spam accounts could effect company revenue as the number of users exposed to advertising would be inflated and artificial. Twitter would be lying about their true company value.
Analysts have speculated that Musk was trying to kill the deal by finding proof that Twitter misrepresented their true value. If that were the case, Musk could walk away without paying any breakup fee and would not be liable to face lawsuits.
Last Monday, Musk’s legal team sent a letter to Twitter accusing the company of violating its obligations to give information. The letter stated, “As Twitter’s prospective owner, Mr. Musk is clearly entitled to the requested data to enable him to prepare for transitioning Twitter’s business to his ownership and to facilitate his transaction financing.
“If Twitter is confident in its publicized spam estimates, Mr. Musk does not understand the company’s reluctance to allow Mr. Musk to independently evaluate those estimates.”
Twitter responded by stating they will “continue to cooperatively share information with Mr. Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement.”
Twitter’s shareholders will reportedly vote to approve Musk’s deal in late July or early August pending SEC approval.
