Elon Musk Threatens To Cancel Twitter Acquisition If Data Spam And Fake Accounts Are Not Disclosed

JAKARTA - Elon Musk warned Monday that he may abandon his $44 billion bid to acquire Twitter Inc if the social media network fails to provide data on spam and fake accounts.

In a letter to Twitter, the billionaire repeated his request for details about the bot account. He also said he had every right to stop the merger because the company committed a "clear material breach" of its obligations by not providing him with information.

Twitter shares were down 5.5% at 38.13 dollars and trading at a sharp discount to Musk's offer of 54.20 dollars per share, indicating that investors do not expect the deal to close at the agreed price. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on this report.

This is the first time Musk has threatened to leave a deal in writing instead of posting it on the social media platform Twitter.

"Musk believes Twitter has transparently refused to comply with its obligations under the merger agreement, leading to further suspicions that the company is withholding the requested data," according to the letter.

Twitter previously downplayed Musk's warning that the deal was "suspended", arguing the data would help him prepare for his ownership of Twitter and that it was not intended to conduct due diligence and reopen negotiations.

Earlier in May, Musk said he would delay the deal "temporarily", meaning while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the proportion of its fake accounts.

In response, Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal said the most sophisticated spam campaigns use a combination of humans and automation and that he doesn't believe the calculations can be done externally, as they require public and private information that Twitter cannot share.

Musk said in his letter that he needed the data to conduct his own analysis of Twitter users and did not trust Twitter Inc's "loose testing methodology".

"He's trying to walk away from the Twitter deal, it's his first chance," said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

A free speech absolutist, Musk, owns 9.6% of Twitter and is the second-largest shareholder. He said one of his priorities on Twitter was removing "spam bots" from the platform.

Tesla Inc bosses have also secured financing for the deal and have attracted major shareholders, including Saudi Arabian investors Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Sequoia Capital. The letter by Musk's lawyer was addressed to Twitter's chief legal officer, Vijaya Gadde.