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May 18, 2022

Musk wars with Twitter over his buyout deal

By MATT O'BRIEN and TOM KRISHER
AP Business Reporters

Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that taking over Twitter would enable him to rid the social media platform of its annoying “spam bots.” Now he's arguing — without presenting any evidence — that there might be just too many of those automated accounts for the $44 billion deal to move ahead.

The sharp turnaround by the world's richest man makes little sense except as a method to scuttle or renegotiate a deal that's becoming increasingly costly for Musk, experts said. And while such hardball tactics aren't uncommon in corporate mergers, the way it's happening — in a highly public, seemingly erratic conversation on the very platform Musk wants to buy — has little precedent.


 
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