Musk accuses Twitter of “actively resisting” requests for information

• Elon Musk says Twitter violated the terms of his deal by refusing to provide data.
• Musk says the breach could allow him to walk away from the $43 billion deal.
• Twitter said it “has and will continue to collaboratively share information” with Musk.

Elon Musk may be willing to abandon his deal to buy Twitter after the social network was accused of disrupting negotiations, according to A letter sent by his lawyer on Monday.

The latest fray in this saga revolves around Musk’s determination to understand how much of Twitter’s user base is made up of bots, rather than actual humans.

Not satisfied with Twitter private numbers (company He said bots make up less than 5% of its users), the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX sought data from the social network to Conduct his own analysis using random samples of users. He says the company refused, accusing it of violating their original agreement, in which he waived the usual due diligence that usually accompanies such acquisitions.

“Mr. Musk believes that the company is actively resisting and nullifying his information rights (and the company’s corresponding obligations) under the merger agreement,” the letter read. “This is a material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves all rights arising therefrom, including his right not to complete the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement.”

Musk said the alleged stalling gives him the right to walk away from the deal entirely.

In response to the message, a Twitter spokesperson said the company remains committed to the original deal agreement.

“Twitter has and will continue to collaboratively share information with Mr. Musk to complete the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement,” they said. “We believe this agreement is in the interest of all shareholders. We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms.”

Twitter shares fell about 3.7% in early trading following the regulatory disclosure.

CEO Parag Agrawal He said in May that Musk’s method for calculating bot accounts would not work, noting that such analysis would require private information that Twitter could not share. Musk responded with a stool emoji.

Twitter initially accepted Musk’s offer to make it private for $43 billion in April. Then in May, Musk said the deal would be so “I’m waiting” Until Twitter can prove that fake accounts make up less than 5% of its user base. The disaster has since developed into a public rift between Musk’s leadership and Twitter.

However, the Twitter board has He said planning to enforce its termination of the agreement, Which includes a $1 billion dismantling fee. Earlier in June, said Twitter wanted The waiting period for government oversight of large mergers is overwhich removes the last obstacles to concluding the deal.