Friday 13 May 2022 09:47 PM Musk is seen hours before pausing his $44B Twitter takeover trends now
Elon Musk was seen attending a private dinner party in Beverly Hills just hours before hitting pause on his $44 billion Twitter acquisition as former President Donald Trump weighed in on the Tesla CEO's decision.
Musk was out and about in Los Angeles on Thursday and seen entering the Beverly Hills Hotel to attend a dinner party as he was escorted by three security guards.
The world's richest man appeared to be glued to his phone as he would, within hours of the party, shock Wall Street by announcing his deal to buy Twitter would be put on hold, leading to much speculation over the decision.
Trump, commenting on his Truth Social platform on Friday, suggested that Musk is looking to negotiate a better deal to buy Twitter after agreeing to pay $54.20 per share, and the only reason he hasn't called it off yet was because of the $1 billion break-up fee.
'There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS or Spam Accounts,' Trump wrote as he added jabs at the rival social media company.
'If it weren't for the ridiculous Billion Dollar breakup fee, Elon would have already been long gone,' he added.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (pictured) was seen going to a dinner party at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday evening, just hours before he put his Twitter acquisition on hold
The world's richest man appeared to be glued to his phone as he entered the building
Musk said he was still committed to the $44 billion purchase of the social media company pending an investigation into how many spam accounts are on the site
Musk wore a dark cap, green shirt and black pants and shoes as he attended the party
Should he bail out on the deal, Musk risks paying a $1 billion break-up fee to Twitter and could also be sued by the social media company for breach of contract
Former President Donald Trump was among many who speculated that Musk put the buyout on hold in the hopes of negotiating a better deal
This week, Musk has also sparked fierce debate after saying he would allow Trump back on Twitter if and when he takes the reins, in line with his previous declarations that he planned to err on the side of free speech rather than bans and censorship.
Trump has repeatedly stated that he has no plan to go back to Twitter after he was removed from the platform following the January 6 Capitol riot.
Musk's surprise tweets early Friday sent Twitter stock plunging in the pre-market, as analysts speculated that Musk is trying to negotiate a lower price for the deal or pull out completely.
Citing a week-old regulatory filing from Twitter, Musk claimed that he wanted to pause the deal to verify that false or spam accounts represented fewer than 5 per cent of the company's 229 million users during the first quarter.
Backpedaling a few hours later, Musk tweeted that he was 'still committed' to the acquisition.
Twitter CEO and board member Parag Agrawal has insisted that he still expects the deal to go through as the company prepare for the transfer of power.
In a lengthy Twitter thread on Friday, Agrawal wrote: 'While I expect the deal to close, we need to be prepared for all scenarios and always do what’s right for Twitter.'
Agrawal also addressed his move on Thursday to fire two top Twitter execs, saying that he is 'accountable for leading and operating Twitter, and our job is to build a stronger Twitter every day.'
If Musk walks away from the deal, Musk would not only be on the hook for a $1 billion termination fee, he could also be sued by Twitter for breach of contract.
A
