Billionaire Elon Musk tweeted early Tuesday morning that he won’t proceed with his $44 billion purchase of Twitter until the social media platform can prove bots are less than 5% of all users, yet another twist.
Twitter estimated in a recent SEC filing that fewer than 5% of monetizable daily active users (or mDAUs) in the first quarter were bots. Musk didn’t believe that figure and said, “Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%.”
Musk estimates about “20% fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be *much* higher.”
“My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate,” Musk tweeted. adding, “this deal cannot move forward until he does.”
20% fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be *much* higher.
My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate.
Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%.
This deal cannot move forward until he does.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2022
Twitter shares fell 2.5% premarket on Tuesday. Shares have tumbled into a bear market since the start of May as traders cast doubts on the deal.
Musk’s tweet comes after Twitter chief Parag Agrawal posted a lengthy thread about the company’s bot methodology. Musk replied with a poop emoji, followed by a tweet that asked: “So how do advertisers know what they’re getting for their money?”
So how do advertisers know what they’re getting for their money? This is fundamental to the financial health of Twitter.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2022
Meanwhile, Twitter filed a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC that said it’s “committed to completing the transaction on the agreed price [$54.20 per share in cash] and terms as promptly as practicable.”
At yesterday’s “All In” summit, Musk said that a viable deal for Twitter is “not out of the question,” but at a lower price.
Maybe Trump was right?
The fate of Elon Musk’s Twitter deal – or at least the price he’ll end up paying – may hinge on just how many ‘bot’ accounts are active on the social media platform.
