Federal Authorities Launch Investigation Into Elon Musk
Elon Musk is now under investigation by Federal Authorities due to suspicions over his true intentions to purchase Twitter.
This article is more than 2 years old
Though there’s been an ongoing saga between Elon Musk and Twitter’s acquisition deal, Musk finally proposed to follow through with the purchase last week. But the deal isn’t complete yet. According to Twitter executives, federal and legal authorities plan to investigate Elon Musk regarding the impending acquisition.
Twitter stated in a court filing on Thursday that the $44 billion deal was under federal investigation. It’s unclear which federal agency will be examining Musk about his potential purchase, but it’s evident that the government will get involved with the merger. All that’s known about the investigation is that federal officers will review Musk’s “conduct” to assess the deal’s plausibility.
When Elon Musk attempted to walk away from the deal, a legal team had to get involved to remind him about his $1 billion termination fee. Alongside this, Musk was pressured by Twitter’s legal representatives to release draft communications with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which the Tesla CEO refused to produce. Musk was also required to get a slide presentation to the Federal Trade Commission before it could abandon the acquisition, which he didn’t provide either.
Though many believed Elon Musk would takeover Twitter after an unprecedented purchase of $44 billion, he tried to back away from the deal this past summer. The prominent reason for his abandonment was that Twitter was misrepresenting the number of bots and spam accounts on the platform, adamantly disagreeing with the figure presented by Twitter’s team. The social media platform was not happy with Musk’s reason for terminating and decided to sue the Tesla CEO to complete the acquisition.
After extensive legal battles, Elon Musk finally agreed to follow through with purchasing the social media company for $54.20 per share. When Musk accused Twitter of misrepresenting the number of fraudulent accounts on the platform, he wanted the company to reduce the deal’s overall price before complying. Twitter would not hear this renegotiation, deciding to sue the entrepreneur so that he’d pay the acquisition price they agreed to.
Though Elon Musk will complete the deal, he did ask the judge proceeding over the dispute to push back the legal proceedings. According to CNN, the judge accepted his request to move the trial to October 28th. Delaware Chancery Court chancellor Kathaleen St. Judge McCormick stated that the court must be contacted immediately if the transaction isn’t completed by the designated date.
Elon Musk’s team is continuing its slander against Twitter, with his legal representatives stating that the social media platform is pressuring federal involvement to distract from its own legal problems. The feud between Musk and Twitter comes at a precarious time for the company, with Twitter’s former head of security coming out against the platform and its blatant disregard for privacy vulnerabilities.
The social media platform is currently being investigated by a federal agency, which is why Musk’s team believes this new legal battle is a ploy to divert government involvement. The Federal Trade Commission, responsible for enforcing the consequences that Twitter’s former head of security is alleging, has yet to state publicly that a federal investigation is occurring.
