Elon Musk signed a contract to buy Twitter a few months ago and now says he’s no longer interested.
Despite the tech platform claiming they will sue his pants off, Musk actually has grounds to walk away from his deal.
Twitter misrepresented and lied about fundamental aspects of its business, especially with lies about how many of its accounts are spam and fake bots.
It’s like if you were going to buy a house and then found out the foundation was already half-eaten by termites. You’d have a right to back out of that deal.
Now, Musk’s withdrawal is having its effect. Twitter’s stock is tumbling right into the needle and crap-strewn gutters of San Francisco.
Twitter Takes a Tumble
Reporting its earnings on Friday, Twitter had some bad news for its shareholders. This quarter has gone very badly for the San Francisco-based tech platform with a staggering loss of $270 million in stock value between April to June.
That’s only a decrease of eight cents a share, but when you add that up across the amount of Twitter shares on the market, that’s more than a quarter of a billion dollars.
Investors and shareholders are not confident about the company, not only because of its biased crusade against conservatives, but also because Musk himself has given it the finger.
Twitter’s revenue is down in the dumps, too, falling over 1% to $1.1 billion, a huge decrease in the money they’re raking in off the backs of the American people.
It doesn’t even appear that Musk is going to buy the company anymore. Twitter is basically behind closed doors since it’s still technically in the process of being acquired.
RIP Twitter’s stock: pic.twitter.com/73n7gfep73
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 11, 2022
Twitter’s Silver Lining
Twitter didn’t have all bad news in its latest quarterly report, however. Its amount of users on a daily basis rose by 16%, so more people are using the platform compared to a year ago.
Currently, that number is around 237 million; although given Musk’s exposure of the funny business going on at Twitter, how many of these 237 million accounts are fake?
It’s honestly a fair question. Clearly, the company has an interest in overexaggerating the purity of its user base and how much of its platform is real.
Though misrepresenting that to Musk in a signed contract is outright fraud.
Still, should we be surprised by the kind of outlet that actively interfered in the 2020 election and has censored conservatives for years?
US social-media companies are poised to see more than $76 billion wiped off their stock-market values Friday, after disappointing revenue from Snap Inc. and a lackluster report from Twitter Inc. raised concerns about the outlook for online advertising. https://t.co/4PWKS1ojt7
— Sunday Times (@SundayTimesZA) July 22, 2022
The Bottom Line
Musk’s issue with fake accounts is far from his only complaint. He also doesn’t agree with Twitter’s dismissal of many employees and other matters since his takeover was announced.
It almost appears like they’re trying to sink the boat before he can step in and then blame Musk for walking away. I wouldn’t put it past them.
This article appeared in StatesmanPost and has been published here with permission.
