Elon Musk announced on Friday that his planned $44 billion acquisition of Twitter is “temporarily on hold,” a further twist in the face of hints of internal strife around the potential acquisition.
Following Musk’s statement, Twitter’s stock has dropped roughly 20 percent during early morning trading hours. Tesla’s stock increased by 5%.
Musk agreed to pay $54.20 per share for Twitter, but Twitter’s current share price is far lower.
Suggested Reading | LUNA Investors ‘Suicidal’ After Crypto’s Collapse – Do Kwon Says He’s ‘Heartbroken’
Elon Musk announced that his planned acquisition of Twitter was postponed because of worries over phony accounts, a surprising turn of events that stunned investors and raised doubts about his commitment to complete the transaction.
The billionaire linked to a May 2 Reuters article quoting a financial filing from Twitter that indicated fraudulent or spam accounts comprised less than 5% of the company’s “monetizable daily active users” for the first three months of 2022.
Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of usershttps://t.co/Y2t0QMuuyn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2022
But Musk cannot just turn his back from his agreement to acquire Twitter, as he is obligated to pay a $1 billion breakup fee. The situation is far complicated than that.
A reverse breakup fee is charged when an external factor prevents the closing of a transaction, such as regulatory intermediation or third-party financing problems.
DOGE total market cap at $11.10 billion on the weekend chart | Source: TradingView.com
According to a senior M&A legal counsel with knowledge of the situation, a buyer can also pull out if fraud is involved in the transaction.
A market decline, such as the recent sell-off that has led Twitter’s market capitalization to drop by more than $9 billion, would not be a valid reason for Musk to part ways, breakup fee or no breakup fee.
Still, there’s some good chance the deal can push through. Musk tweeted two hours after his initial tweet that he is “still committed to acquisition.”
Attorneys close to Musk persuaded him to send the follow-up tweet, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Elon Musk has always believed in Dogecoin's potential as a competitive currency. (Legal Sports Betting)
In the meantime, Musk has made another bullish statement regarding the joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) amid major market sell-offs.
The CEO of Tesla confirmed that Dogecoin “has potential as a currency.” His remark was a response to Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus’s statement that he enjoys the meme-based cryptocurrency because “it knows it is stupid.”
Musk reaffirmed in his tweet that Dogecoin is the most ideal cryptocurrency for transactions. In contrast, he stated that Bitcoin is more suitable as a kind of value storage.
Musk, who is known as “The Dogefather” in the cryptocurrency industry, also said that DOGE is “the people’s cryptocurrency.”
Suggested Reading | Crypto Massacre: Over $200 Billion Wiped Out From Crypto Market In 24 Hours
Featured image from PGurus, chart from TradingView.com
With deepfakes rising in generative AI, YouTube plans to introduce two tools to protect creators' intellectual property. While the details of these tools are promising, the platform has yet to disclose their official release dates.
CatherineAt the 2024 Shanghai Bund Conference, Ant Financial announced its business progress and strategic layout for the first time after its independence. Its chief scientist Yan Ying said that the Web3 industry has entered a new stage of asset integration.
AlexTRON's Dave Uhryniak highlights the cultural and artistic impact of memecoins at Korea Blockchain Week, introducing SunPump as a new platform for creating and trading meme coins.
MiyukiMichael Smith faces federal charges for defrauding streaming platforms by using AI to create fake songs and bots to generate billions of streams, leading to $10 million in illicit royalties. His scheme involved setting up thousands of fake accounts and using custom software to stream his music, making it appear as though many unique listeners were tuning in.
AnaisAlexAlexChatGPT's latest macOS update finally brings the "Memory" feature to Europe and South Korea, allowing users to save preferences and personal information for more personalised responses. By remembering details like preferred formats and past interactions, could this elevate personalisation even further?
CatherineElon Musk plans to establish a human city on Mars within 20 years, starting with uncrewed missions in 2026 and a crewed mission two years later. But will this interplanetary dream become reality or remain an unattainable utopia?
KikyoDonald Trump is making free speech a central focus of his 2024 campaign, vowing to fire federal employees involved in censorship and banning critical race theory in schools. He faces a close race against Kamala Harris, with both candidates preparing for a crucial debate amid concerns over the economy and rising legal threats.
AnaisHamster Kombat's new “Cheating is Bad” badge aims to deter unethical behaviour and ensure fair play. However, the crypto community is concerned about the high number of account bans. Will these measures affect player participation in the upcoming airdrop or that is their plan?
Catherine