By Kelvin Chan, Business Writer
LONDON (AP) --Elon Musk said Friday that his plan to buy Twitter for $44 billion is "temporarily on hold" as he tries to pinpoint the exact number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform, another twist amid signs of internal turmoil over the proposed acquisition.
Musk, who has been vocal about his desire to clean up Twitter's problem with "spam bots" that mimic real people, appeared to question whether the company was underreporting them.
In a tweet, the Tesla billionaire linked to a Reuters story from May 2 about a quarterly report from Twitter that estimated false or spam accounts made up fewer than 5% of the company's "monetizable daily active users" in the first quarter.
"Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users," Musk said, indicating he's skeptical that the number of inauthentic accounts is that low.
It wasn't clear whether the issue could scuttle the deal.
Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Friday.
Stock in both Twitter and Tesla swung sharply in opposite directions, with Twitter's stock tumbling 14%, and shares of Tesla, which Musk had proposed using to help fund the Twitter deal, jumping 7%.
Investors have had to weigh legal troubles for Musk, as well as the possibility that acquiring Twitter could be a distraction from running the world's most valuable automaker. The proposed deal continued to pressure shares of Tesla, which had already fallen 16% this week.
The sharp jump in the price of Tesla shares before the opening bell Friday singled rising doubts that the acquisition of Twitter will take place.
Musk has already sold off more than $8 billion worth of his Tesla shares to finance the purchase.
Originally Musk had committed to borrowing $12.5 billion with Tesla stock as collateral to buy Twitter. He also would borrow $13 billion from banks and put up $21 billion in Tesla equity.
Last week, Musk strengthened the equity stake in his offer for Twitter with commitments of more than $7 billion from a diverse group of investors including Silicon Valley heavy hitters like Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Money from the new investors cuts the amount borrowed on the value of Tesla stock to $6.25 billion, according to the filing. The Tesla equity share could go from $21 billion to $27.25 billion.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who follows both Tesla and Twitter, said Musk's "bizarre" tweet will lead Wall Street to either think the deal is likely falling apart, Musk is attempting to negotiate a lower deal price, or he is simply walking away from the deal with a $1 billion penalty.
"Many will view this as Musk using this Twitter filing/spam accounts as a way to get out of this deal in a vastly changing market," Ives wrote.
He added that the Musk's use of Twitter rather than a financial filing to make the announcement was troubling and "sends this whole deal into a circus show with many questions and no concrete answers as to the path of this deal going forward."
Musk's tweet comes a day after the social media company fired two of its top managers. Twitter said the company is pausing most hiring, except for critical roles, and is "pulling back on non-labor costs to ensure we are being responsible and efficient."
In a memo sent to employees and confirmed by Twitter, CEO Parag Agrawal said the company has not hit growth and revenue milestones after the company began to invest "aggressively" to expand its user base and revenue.
AP Business Writer Michelle Chapman in New York contributed to this report.
MSQ Acquires Creative Agency SPCSHP
Next generation independent creative, technology and media company MSQ has acquired New York-based creative agency SPCSHP. The acquisition more than doubles London-based MSQ’s presence in the U.S., increasing annual revenues in North America to $100MM and accelerating its ability to deliver agile, multi-disciplinary solutions that fuses together data, tech and creativity to build effective brand momentum for its clients. Terms of the SPCSHP deal were not disclosed.
MSQ’s ambitious international investment strategy to grow organically and through acquisition is backed by private equity groups One Equity Partners and LDC as it creates hubs of scale in North America, the UK and Europe.
Previously known as Big Spaceship, SPCSHP is an independent digital creative agency known for its innovative digital marketing strategies and solutions. With this acquisition, SPCSHP gains access to MSQ’s global network of best in class agencies, allowing it to provide a broader set of marketing solutions to its roster of Fortune 100 brands and better position itself for growth. Founder and chairman Michael Lebowitz and CEO Ranae Heuer will continue to lead SPCSHP as part of MSQ’s U.S. team, with SPCSHP’s 140 colleagues joining MSQ’s 1,200 colleagues operating across 13 global offices.
“SPCSHP is a shining light in the U.S., and its success is of huge credit to Michael, Ranae and the team. They have consistently delivered innovative creative work, executing integrated campaigns for their long-standing brand partners to a wide audience,” said MSQ global CEO Peter Reid. “The agency’s increasing scopes of work and recent wins are a testament to their value in the industry, and we’re delighted to have them as part of our group.”
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