Elon Musk Threatens to End Twitter Deal

Elon Musk threatened to terminate his deal to buy Twitter Inc. in a letter accusing the company of not complying with his request for data on the number of spam and fake accounts on the social-media platform, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Musk said Twitter has refused to provide the data necessary for him to facilitate his own evaluation of the number of spam and fake accounts. In April, Twitter accepted Musk’s $44 billion bid to take over the company and go private.

In a letter to Twitter Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde that was disclosed in a regulatory filing Monday, Musk’s lawyer Mike Ringler said Musk is entitled to the requested data, in part so that he can facilitate the financing of the deal.

“This is a clear material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement,” Mr. Ringler wrote.

A Twitter spokesman said the company “will continue to cooperatively share information with Mr. Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement.” He added: “We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms.”

Also on Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into Twitter, saying the company may have falsely reported its fake bot accounts in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Mr. Paxton’s office ordered Twitter to produce documents on how it calculates and manages its user data and how that information relates to its advertising businesses. Mr. Paxton’s office said Twitter has until June 27 to respond to its demands