Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be rethinking his buyout of Twitter as he examines the authenticity of the social media account’s analytics. The Daily Wire is reporting that Musk has paused the process of buying Twitter while he is “still committed” to buying the company.
“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” Musk tweeted early Friday morning.
In the wake of Musk pausing the sale, Twitters current “lame duck” CEO is making major changes at the company. Parag Agrawal has announced that the company is freezing all “non-essential” hiring. Agrawal also announced the departure of two high profiled Twitter employees.
Twitter has parted ways with Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s general manager, and Bruce Falck, Twitter’s general manager for revenue.
Agrawal released a statement saying he is making moves in the case that Musk does back out of the deal.
“Some have been asking why a ‘lame-duck’ CEO would make these changes if we’re getting acquired anyway,” he wrote. “While I expect the deal to close, we need to be prepared for all scenarios and always do what’s right for Twitter. I’m accountable for leading and operating Twitter, and our job is to build a stronger Twitter every day.”
“No one at Twitter is working just to keep the lights on. We take pride in our work. Regardless of the company’s future ownership, we’re here improving Twitter as a product and business for customers, partners, shareholders, and all of you,” he continued. “People have also asked: why manage costs now vs after close? Our industry is in a very challenging macro environment – right now. I won’t use the deal as an excuse to avoid making important decisions for the health of the company, nor will any leader at Twitter.”
It was reported last month that there is a $1 Billion break-up fee should either party back out of the deal. One would have to wonder if Musk backs out of the deal based on a higher than expected amount of fake accounts, would he be liable for the $1 billion break-up fee.
