A source close to the litigation, familiar with Elon Musk's case, tells Reuters that the world's richest man and Twitter Inc are likely to reach an agreement as soon as Wednesday that will allow him to close a $44 billion deal with the social media platform. Evaporation of the litigation could take place as early as Wednesday, the source adds.
Musk, who is also the chief executive officer and a billionaire founder of the electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors, announced on Twitter late Monday that he would change course and abide by his agreement to purchase the company for $54.20 per share. There is a possibility that the following will happen if Twitter drops its lawsuit against the company.
During Monday's announcement of his plans, Musk included a condition that the deal would not close unless the necessary debt financing had been obtained. As per a source, depending on how the negotiations unfold, it is possible that this condition could be lifted by a potential agreement, which is why he has requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the negotiations.
There has been no sign that Twitter's legal team has accepted any of the offers made by the federal government. Instead, earlier in the day, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the Supreme Court justice on Delaware's Court of Chancery, said that she was preparing for a possible trial.
An attorney representing the Twitter shareholders who are seeking to begin a class action lawsuit against Musk, also stated in a letter to McCormick that Musk should be required to make a substantial deposit to cover any losses if he reneges on his commitment to finishing the deal again. Michael Hanrahan also claims that he should be held liable for interest that was caused by his actions that delayed the closing of the deal.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Musk and Twitter executives had several unsuccessful discussions in recent weeks. These discussions were regarding a possible price cut to Musk's $44 billion plan to buy the popular social media platform. On Monday, he reversed course after he reversed course on the acquisition.
As per the report, Musk on the first occasion requested a 30% discount. This was later reduced to about 10% and ultimately rejected by Twitter due to the lack of interest from the company.
Musk's legal team did not provide any information on what led to the team's offer of settling the case. He was, however, expected to face some tough questions at his deposition in Austin, Texas on Thursday. Twitter may have been able to gain leverage in talks for a deal to close because of the same.
On Wednesday, Twitter shares closed at $51.30, a drop of 1.3% from their previous closing price of $53.90. On Tuesday, Twitter's shares touched their highest since Musk and Twitter reached a deal in April calling for Musk's purchase of the company at $54.20 a share.
Musk's shares of Tesla fell by 3.5% on Wednesday. This was because investors were fearful Musk may be forced to sell more shares of the electric carmaker to fund the Twitter deal. Musk is yet to confirm. Additionally, Twitter could be a distraction for entrepreneurs since it is a social media platform.
According to Musk, he walked away from Facebook’s acquisition deal in July after discovering Twitter had allegedly misled him about the number of fake accounts. However, Twitter did not respond to Musk’s request for comment.