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Elon Musk takes over Twitter

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Alma, Apr 25, 2022.

  1. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    That's what he is hoping for.

    He made what was a ridiculously overpriced offer when he made it, and not even a month later the stock market bubble started to pop. Which makes his ridiculously overpriced offer even more ridiculously overpriced today. So he wants out now.

    He is either trying to get out of it or he is trying to renogotiate.

    The problem for him is he has no leverage, because the deal he agreed to is binding. There is a $1 billion breakup fee if it falls apart for several specific reasons. He can't just bail because he had second thoughts.

    Thus, what we're all seeing.

    So now he threatens to walk away. There is precedent, but nothing on this scale. When Covid hit, LVMH threatened to walk away from a buyout deal with Tiffany & Co. and Tiffany agreed to lower the acquisition price a little. In this case? I can't see why they wouldn't sue his ass, and if he loses -- and it's got to be likely -- he could end up owing even more in damages. So he's playing with fire if he keeps this up. The Twitter board knows that, which is why they are not likely to renegotiate, easily at least.
     
  2. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    Right. So how is what he's doing not illegal? And if it's not illegal, it has to be a gross breach of contract.
     
  3. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    There's no criminal penalty for not fulfilling a contract; its a breach of contract entitling one to be compensated for damages caused.

    Musk's justification, at least at this point, regarding the number of fake accounts, appears pretty flimsy because stories I've read say Twitter has been saying for years in official SEC filings that the number of fake accounts is much greater than 5%. For him to now point to that factor when its been publicly reported for years does not appear to be a "change" or "new information" justifying backing out now.
     
  4. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    I understand breaking a contract isn't against any laws. Hence my second sentence.

    I just don't get how what he's doing is legal.
     
  5. Neutral Corner

    Neutral Corner Well-Known Member

    If he breaches the contract he's on the hook for a billion dollars and possibly more in damages, perfectly legally.
     
  6. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    You would think that he would have done his due diligence before signing the deal. But I guess it’s more fun to get the splashy press and then try to re-trade.
     
    HanSenSE and wicked like this.
  7. Mngwa

    Mngwa Well-Known Member

    It was a vanity offer. He thought it would be super cool to make this multi-billion dollar purchase. It hurt his auto company and I suspect maybe he's having a hard time turning assets into $44 billion worth of liquidity. And, he got a lot of blowback from people that don't want him to own Twitter. He did this to stroke his own ego and it was somewhat stroked, and also somewhat pricked with very sharp needles.
     
    HanSenSE, garrow and wicked like this.
  8. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    Apparently Musk explicitly waived his due diligence in writing. Now that he has to come up with money he realized his valuation was way over priced. And that a larger percentage of users are bots than he knew. Though if he did his research before buying he would have found out. Twitter is not as monetized as Facebook or even TikTok. It’s a bad investment at his price.
     
  9. Regan MacNeil

    Regan MacNeil Well-Known Member

    I DEMAND YOU MAKE PUBLIC YOUR BOT TOTAL!!!

    Um, fuck you?
     
    OscarMadison and dixiehack like this.
  10. wicked

    wicked Well-Known Member

    Musk reminds me more and more of a slightly more mature Martin Shkreli. Maybe it’s just the smarmy look.
     
    OscarMadison and heyabbott like this.
  11. cyclingwriter2

    cyclingwriter2 Well-Known Member

    I have never given one shot about Elon Musk, so I ask this is some naivety, has he always played the Trump playbook of make ridiculous statements about business and then go on the offensive that it was other guy who fucked up? Or is this something new?
     
  12. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    You can take the boy from apartheid but you can’t take apartheid away from the boy.
     
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