Musk's Twitter Deal is Back On​

By Jake Rickman​

What do you need to know this week?

In July, we reported that Elon Musk stalled on his proposed acquisition of Twitter at $54.20 a share, citing the fact that the social media giant had misrepresented the extent to which fake accounts permeated the site.

At the time, we were sceptical that his claim had much weight. Musk had signed a binding purchase agreement with Twitter and waived his right to conduct due diligence on the company, thereby making it considerably difficult to claim misrepresentation after the fact.

Now, nearly three months later, it seems Musk has come back around. As the Financial Times reported, on Monday evening, Musk sent a letter to Twitter’s management indicating he was prepared to move ahead with the deal at the same price as before ($54.20 a share).

The agreement to proceed is conditional upon Twitter abandoning the ongoing Delaware Chancery Court litigation, which Twitter initiated to force Musk into closing on the deal.

Why is this important for your interviews?

What makes the saga of Musk’s negotiations with Twitter so fantastical is how unusual and unorthodox (to put it mildly) Musk conducts himself. If nothing else, it is a curiosity to the business and legal world, which makes it potentially good fodder for an interview.

From a strictly legal perspective, Twitter seemed to be in a blatantly superior position. It had a signed purchase agreement committing Musk to its terms. Nonetheless, that Musk quickly backtracked after signing the deal, alleging thinly veiled claims of misrepresentation, had commentators wondering if the world’s richest man might somehow manage to escape the deal.

While we cannot determine for certain what exactly compelled Musk back to completing the share purchase, we can certainly speculate. This could all have been an unsuccessful attempt to force Twitter into renegotiating the purchase price. Alternatively, these could just be the kinds of antics Musk pulls, which may prejudice future negotiations.

How is this topic relevant to law firms?

Elon Musk and his associated acquisition companies continue to be represented by Skadden.