In a surprise post, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that he has temporarily put a $44 billion Twitter deal on hold until he finds out how many fakes are on the micro-blogging platform. Or spam accounts exist.
In a tweet to his more than 92 million followers, Musk said, “The Twitter deal is temporarily pending until it is determined whether spam/fake accounts actually represent less than 5 percent of users. “
Twitter’s Stock Price Fell 19 Percent After News of the Deal Being Halted
Musk previously posted a link to a Reuters story that reported Twitter estimates that fake accounts account for less than 5 percent of total users.
Twitter estimated in a filing earlier this week that fake or spam accounts accounted for less than 5 percent of its monetizable daily active users during the first quarter.
The Micro-Blogging Platform Had 229 Million Users in the First Quarter
Musk has struck a $44 billion deal to take over Twitter, of which he will pay $21 billion out of his own pocket while the rest will come in the form of a loan from a consortium of banks.
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