Elon Musk Files to Terminate Twitter Deal

Elon Musk is trying to back out of his deal to buy Twitter, according to a letter filed with the SEC on Friday. 

Musk’s lawyers cited the billionaire’s unfulfilled requests for internal spam bot data as a major reason for the decision. “For the past month, Mr. Musk has been clear that he views Twitter’s non-responsiveness as a material breach of the Merger Agreement giving him the right to terminate the Merger Agreement if uncured,” the lawyers wrote. However, Twitter chairman Bret Taylor said the company would sue to enforce the merger agreement.

Twitter says roughly 5% of its monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) are spam bots. Musk, who largely waived his right to due diligence, cast doubt on Twitter's estimate and requested internal company data to make his own evaluation. However, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said the company could not give Musk the data because it included private information that could not be shared externally. 

Coverage was widespread and prominently featured across the spectrum on Friday evening, often using words like “alleged” and “claimed” to describe Musk’s accusations against Twitter. Some left and center-rated outlets framed Musk’s claims of inaccurate bot estimates as “unsubstantiated” or lacking “any apparent evidence.”