Elon Musk says a Twitter deal at a lower price wouldn't be “out of the question”, speaking to a Miami tech conference crowd
tweeting, flirting with buying it, owning libs, etc. But it's a waste of your talents and time. And it's unfair to Twitter employees. What you have done with SpaceX, Tesla, etc., is so inspiring and important. Maybe move on? https://markets.businessinsider.com/ ... Emil Protalinski / @epro : Google Finance and Yahoo Finance agree that $TWTR closed at $37.39 today, but not on how much percentage down that is. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... @zerohedge : *MUSK: BIDEN ADMIN 'DOESN'T HAVE THE DRIVE' TO GET STUFF DONE *MUSK SAYS TRUMP ADMIN HAD OFFICIALS WHO ACCOMPLISHED MORE Matt Levine / @matt_levine : he signed an agreement with them and reneged on it within a week. so they signed another agreement with him, terrific Hamza Shaban / @hshaban : ...using Twitter to raise doubt about the acquisition of Twitter, lowering the price of Twitter... https://twitter.com/... Dan Primack / @danprimack : Beginning to get a bit surprised that a PE firm isn't jumping in on Twitter at, say, $40 per share. Board could now justifiably argue superior offer. @nycsouthpaw : To recap Musk's behavior— illegally accumulated stock without disclosing his interest, filed a misleading 13g - agreed to join board and signed a standstill, reneged on it within days - offered a then-low price, got board approval, signed a merger agmt, reneged on it within 3w @nycsouthpaw : Odds of an epic circus in the Delaware Chancery Court with $44b on the line continue to rise. https://twitter.com/... @soonergrunt : I wonder how long until the SEC smacks him again? https://twitter.com/... Daniel W. Drezner / @dandrezner : Same, but for my mortgage. https://twitter.com/... Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : “Elon Musk stoked speculation that he could seek to renegotiate his takeover of Twitter Inc., saying a viable deal at a lower price wouldn't be ‘out of the question.’ Twitter shares fell as much as 8.1% in afternoon trading...” https://www.bloomberg.com/... Seth Masket / @smotus : “Wow that was a delicious meal.” “Thank you, sir. That'll be $85.” “Me giving you less money is not out of the question.” https://twitter.com/... @chimeracoder : just some light securities fraud here - par for the course for Elon Musk https://twitter.com/... @dataandpolitics : That's not how purchase agreements work, fyi. https://twitter.com/... Henry Blodget / @hblodget : Meaning a price cut is guaranteed — if the deal happens at all? https://twitter.com/... @pschlarm : man admits to securities fraud https://twitter.com/... Paris Marx / @parismarx : Elon Musk has been tweeting shit about Twitter since he announced his deal to buy it, driving down the share price the entire time. Now he admits he wants to renegotiate at a lower price. Twitter's board should tell him to pay the $1B fee and take a hike. https://www.bloomberg.com/... Mike Dunford / @questauthority : I think it's clear to everyone that Musk is trying to renegotiate the Twitter deal while taking actions that drive the stock price down. I've seen Musk stans who think this is great. Here's the key bit that needs to be kept in mind: https://www.bloomberg.com/... Matt Levine / @matt_levine : why would they reprice this deal, what's the point of signing another agreement @slpng_giants : Instead of getting @elonmusk's thoughts on the Buffalo shooting and whether or not it would be allowed on this platform under his leadership, we get this: https://twitter.com/... Frank Luntz / @frankluntz : What will @ElonMusk cheerleaders say if he backs out of his Twitter acquisition? He says the deal is “on hold” now until after he can ascertain what percentage of Twitter's daily active users are bots. Or maybe until @Tesla stock goes back up. 🤔 https://markets.businessinsider.com/ ...
Context & Ripple Effects
Musk's price comments extend a negotiating dispute that had already been aired publicly through his claim that the deal was “on hold”. Twitter's chief executive responded the same day with an account of the company’s human-reviewed spam measurement process, making bot metrics the central factual fault line.
The stakes reach beyond a single trading session: Twitter had been seeking additional deal financing and investor rollovers, while later related coverage shows the dispute moving into debt-financing terms and potential claims over bot disclosures.
First-order effects
- Twitter shares fell as much as 8.1% after Musk raised the prospect of a lower price, immediately repricing the perceived certainty and value of the signed transaction.
- Twitter is pushed to defend its spam-account methodology as Musk turns that metric into leverage in the acquisition negotiations.
Second-order effects
- The public dispute complicates the financing structure Twitter and Musk were assembling, since lenders and co-investors must assess a transaction whose price and closing path are being contested.
- Twitter executives must manage employee uncertainty while maintaining that the transaction continues; the company later told staff there was no such thing as a deal being on hold.
Third-order effects
- If public challenges to a target’s operating metrics become a recurring takeover tactic, signed technology acquisitions may place greater weight on disclosure definitions and financing protections rather than headline price alone.
- The episode points to a more adversarial form of acquisition-led expansion, where social-media disclosures can become negotiating instruments after an agreement is announced.
The trend: High-profile technology takeovers are becoming more exposed to public disputes over platform metrics, financing, and deal certainty after signing.