Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised that taking over Twitter would enable him to rid the social media platform of its annoying “spam bots”. Now he’s arguing – without presenting any evidence – that there might be just too many of those automated accounts for the US$44bil (RM193.40bil) deal to move ahead.
The sharp turnaround by the world’s richest man makes little sense except as a method to scuttle or renegotiate a deal that’s becoming increasingly costly for him, experts said. And while such hardball tactics aren’t uncommon in corporate mergers, the way this is playing out – in a highly public, seemingly erratic conversation on the very platform Musk wants to buy – has little precedent.