Earlier this year, Elon Musk decided that he should try to buy his way into popularity by making a bid to buy Twitter as-is, with no due diligence. Twitter took him up on the offer and they made the deal for Musk to purchase the company for $44 billion. Musk then spent the next six months trying to worm his way out of the deal. In those six months, we learned more about Musk than any of us wanted to know – how much he wants to platform white supremacists, how he sexually harasses employees and buys their silence, how he impregnates coworkers/subordinates, how he’s completely idiotic and skeezy. We also heard, repeatedly, that Musk was actually too broke-ass to own both Tesla AND Twitter. In any case, Musk tried to terminate the Twitter purchase and Twitter was about to drag his ass to the Court of Chancery. Suddenly, Musk is ready to purchase Twitter under the original terms of the deal he made in April.
After months of trying to get out of a deal that he struck in April, the billionaire made a proposal on Monday night that could bring the acrimonious legal fight to an end. Mr. Musk said he would do exactly what he said he would do in April: Acquire Twitter at $54.20 per share, according to regulatory filings made public on Tuesday.
Twitter, which sued Mr. Musk in July to force him to go through with the $44 billion deal, has yet to accept his new proposal and plans to add conditions to try to ensure that he doesn’t change his mind again.
In a short statement, Twitter said it had received Mr. Musk’s letter and reiterated the company’s intention to close the deal. Twitter may ask a court in Delaware, where it filed its suit, for protections that would force Mr. Musk to follow through with his new proposal, said three people familiar with the company’s plans, who were not authorized to speak publicly about them. The company could also demand that Mr. Musk pay interest on the deal price for the delays in completing the acquisition, one of those people added.
A deal would allow both sides to avoid a messy trial that was expected to start in two weeks in Delaware Chancery Court. The trial most likely would have featured testimony from Mr. Musk, who runs the electric automaker Tesla, and senior Twitter executives. Mr. Musk is scheduled to be deposed on Thursday and Friday in Austin, Texas, according to a legal filing.
[From The NY Times]
This reminds me of the fact that originally, Musk was interested in a seat on Twitter’s board, but Twitter wanted him to pass a background check and he stepped away from that offer – because he knew he wouldn’t pass a background check. In an attempt to avoid being deposed and having Twitter’s lawyers crawl up his ass and then hand him his ass in the Court of Chancery, Musk is suddenly prepared to purchase Twitter under the original terms. Imagine buying a $44 billion company just because you’re scared of background checks and depositions, my God. Anyway, if this sh-t goes through, it’s going to be so f–king bad.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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