Elon Musk’s Twitter saga has been a rollercoaster ride for Twitter shareholders this year.
After months of looming litigation and public recriminations between the tech entrepreneur and the social media platform, Musk reversed course and decided to move forward with his acquisition deal rather than litigate himself out of his commitment to buy Twitter, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
If he goes through with it, the deal would be for $44 billion, the same amount Musk offered to buy the company for back in April, which drove share prices up 26.7% that month. The bid was a 40% premium over the tech company’s March closing price.
What followed, however, was a public dispute between the parties. Musk took to Twitter repeatedly to voice grievances over the company’s transparency as he tried to “look under the hood” of what he was buying.
Musk was so vocal about Twitter’s bot problem and how it could be a dealbreaker for him that a number of the company’s shareholders are now suing him, accusing him of “fraudulent and illegal” conduct, claiming that he deliberately tried to “create doubt about the deal” in order to drive down Twitter’s share price as part of a bid to renegotiate the sale price.
In July, Musk publicly stated that he was no longer interested in buying Twitter after alleging that the company was not providing him with contractually-obligatory business information about the platform. Musk’s comments supposedly led to Twitter’s share price falling to $36.81 from an April high of $54.20.
Musk even caught some friendly fire, with the reverberations of his contested deal with Twitter causing some Tesla shareholders to abandon ship, shedding some 30% in value between April and July, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Twitter eventually sued Musk to force him to go through with the deal, with a trial date set for October 17.
Following the announcement early this month that Musk was again on board, Twitter’s stock jumped by 22% and continues to hover in the $50 per share price range, about 9% below Musk’s offer price.
Musk clarified earlier in the month that his request to carry on with the deal is contingent upon his ability to receive debt refinancing to the tune of $13 billion.
While Musk and Twitter’s trial was initially set to begin on October 17, the court has allowed Musk until October 28 to figure out a way to close the deal with Twitter and avoid any courtroom drama.
If a deal is not mutually reached and closed by that date, a new trial will be scheduled to begin in November.
It is unclear what all this will mean for Twitter shareholders, but if the last six months are any indication, it could be another bumpy ride.
