Great news for Twitter users — but maybe not for Elon Musk, especially considering current market conditions. America’s wealthiest entrepreneur agreed to execute the acquisition deal he signed months ago, purchasing the social-media platform for $44 billion, as a means to resolve competing lawsuits over the terms of the agreement.
That puts an emphatic end to Musk’s second thoughts, although maybe fourth thoughts may still arise:
Elon Musk now wants to go through with his original offer to buy Twitter for the previously agreed upon price of $54.20 per share, a source close to the deal tells NPR.
The billionaire Tesla CEO sent a letter to Twitter Monday night, the person said, which could put an end to the knock-down, drag-out legal fight over the merger that he tried to abandon in July.
The news, first reported by Bloomberg, sent shares of the struggling social media company soaring 13 percent before the NASDAQ halted trading.
The Wall Street Journal notes that the trial for the civil suits would have begun in less than two weeks. Their source corroborates the NPR report and another from Bloomberg that the matter will come to an end with the sale. But another deadline may explain the timing:
If Twitter accepts the proposal, the two sides wouldn’t have to follow through on a five-day nonjury trial set to begin Oct. 17. There are no guarantees they will reach a deal and the trial could still go forward as planned.
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Mr. Musk was set to be deposed later this week as part of the preparations for the trial.
As Wilford Brimley once observed in the film Absence of Malice: “Wonderful thing, subpoenas.” It could just be a coincidence, if one is inclined to believe they exist, but in legal matters these deadlines often incentivize changes in position. At the very least, it looks as though Musk didn’t want to go through a deposition over his seemingly capricious changes of heart.
Or it might just be that all of this was an extended game of chicken over the share price. Musk had hinted all along that he might be tempted to re-enter the deal at a lower price. With the deposition coming up, as well the trial date itself, Musk may simply have swerved first after realizing that Twitter’s board didn’t have any incentive to renegotiate.
The news on the deal’s re-emergence broke just as Andrew Malcolm and I recorded our segment for The Ed Morrissey Show podcast. After some joking around about Andrew’s title of nobility in the new Musk regime, we discuss the implications for the platform itself.
“It has some promise for those of us who are in the social media anyway,” Andrew tells me. Musk’s “taking it over is a good thing for users,” he adds, but also notes, “I have no idea, personally, it’s going to be good for Musk.” It seems as though Musk himself didn’t think so, at least at the current price, but he’s stuck with it now.
The episode is now up, and today’s show features:
- Will Andrew Malcolm retain his title as Prince of Twitter? Elon Musk has agreed to stick to his original deal to acquire Twitter, and Andrew and I discuss the potential impacts.
- We also talk about the almost-certain futility of Donald Trump’s defamation suit against CNN. “I think it’s a political stunt,” Andrew comments, and wonders whether Trump is even planning on another run or just preferring to wage PR fights and merchandising campaigns.
- What are the new media talking points emerging from the White House on gas prices — and will media outlets adopt them?
- Plus, we compare Subaru experiences and chat a bit about Musk’s diplomacy flop.
The Ed Morrissey Show is now a fully downloadable and streamable show at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, the TEMS Podcast YouTube channel, and on Rumble and our own in-house portal at the #TEMS page!
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