The richest person in the world Elon Musk has apparently changed his mind about buying Twitter, again.
Musk is now willing to proceed with his original takeover of the social media platform at the price he initially offered to pay a month ago before then trying to back out of the deal. The surprise u-turn came only weeks before the two sides were meant to appear in court to settle the dispute.
Musk first revealed his plans to buy Twitter in a $44 billion deal. But the billionaire is known for his impulsivity, and then balked at the purchase only a few weeks later, attempting to back out of the agreed-upon and signed the deal.
Musk had been citing concerns that there was a high number of fake accounts on the platform, claiming the statistic was higher than Twitter’s estimates.
The back-and-forth followed a sharp downturn in the value of technology stocks, including Tesla, the electric car company that Musk leads. The fight in court was set for October 17. Twitter was expected to win.
Now with the deal back on, Twitter employees are just “along for the ride.” The on-again, off-again deal has given Twitter’s employees whiplash. Some employees said they’re used to the drama by now, and are used to the uncertainty.
The social media company is reportedly only pursuing about half the projects it normally would due to uncertainty about how many employees will flee, and to ensure it can deliver on commitments.
Musk’s u-turn could not have come at a worse time for the banks either, who are funding a large portion of the massive multi-billion dollar deal. They could be facing significant losses.
As in any large acquisition, banks would look to sell the debt to get it off their books. But investors have lost their appetite for riskier debt such as leveraged loans, spooked by rapid interest rate hikes around the world, fears of recession, and market volatility driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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