Elon Musk has put his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on hold pending confirmation on the number of bots using the platform, AP
Musk suggested cutting Twitter’s $44 billion bid based on the number of bots on the platform.
He says the percentage of fake accounts is around 25% of users, not Twitter’s 5% estimate.
Musk called Twitter’s lack of explanation about the bot character “very suspicious.”
Elon Musk has added uncertainty over his $44 billion bid for Twitter by saying the price should be reduced by the proportion of fake accounts on the platform and calling Twitter’s lack of explanation for his estimates “very suspicious”.
Musk agreed with conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong on Saturday, who tweeted, “If 25% of users are bots, the Twitter acquisition deal should cost 25% less.”
“Absolutely,” Musk replied.
Musk put his deal to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share “on hold” until the platform could prove that only 5% of its users are bots.
Speaking on Monday’s All-In podcast, he said the number was probably “four or five times” higher.
A 25% reduction would reduce the value of the offering to $33 billion. That total is much closer to Twitter’s market value of just under $30 billion. Shares closed at $38.29 in New York on Friday.
Musk previously questioned Twitter’s lack of explanations for the 5% estimate, saying it has no incentive to fight fake accounts.
“I’m concerned that Twitter has a disincentive to reduce spam as it decreases the number of perceived daily users,” Musk said.
Musk responded to a user who asked if Twitter had been in touch answered: “No, they still refuse to explain how they calculate that 5% of daily users are fake/spam! Very suspicious.”
It marks the latest escalation in rhetoric in a turbulent takeover process, prompting Musk to remind investors of his priorities over his fellow companies Tesla and SpaceX.
Musk previously suggested taking a sample of 100 users to determine the number of bots on the platform, allegedly breaking a non-disclosure agreement with Twitter. He was responding to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s explanation of why it couldn’t be done with a poop emoji.
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