LONDON — Elon Musk said Friday that his plan to buy Twitter for $44 billion is"temporarily on hold" as he tries to pinpoint the exact number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform, another twist amid signs of internal turmoil over the proposed acquisition.
Stock in both Twitter and Tesla swung sharply in opposite directions, with Twitter's stock tumbling 14%, and shares of Tesla, which Musk had proposed using to help fund the Twitter deal, jumping 7%. for Musk, as well as the possibility that acquiring Twitter could be a distraction from running the world's most valuable automaker. The proposed deal continued to pressure shares of Tesla, which had already fallen 16% this week.
Money from the new investors cuts the amount borrowed on the value of Tesla stock to $6.25 billion, according to the filing. The Tesla equity share could go from $21 billion to $27.25 billion.
Frankly, this news is a way for Elon to squirm out of the deal.