Elon Musk’s decision to move forward with his purchase of Twitter at the original price after months of efforts to cancel the deal is just the latest of his battles with the social media company.
Musk reportedly told Twitter Monday that he would agree to pay his initially pitched price of $54.20 per share so he could take the company private. The offer could end months of conflict between the billionaire and the social media company.
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The story of Musk’s business with Twitter starts back at the beginning of 2022.
Jan. 31, 2022: Musk began buying Twitter stock while keeping the purchases private.
March 25, 2022: Musk polled his followers about whether they believe Twitter “rigorously adheres” to the principle of free speech, leading some to speculate that Musk was considering acquiring Twitter or starting his own social media platform.
April 4, 2022: Musk’s decision to buy Twitter stock became public after a Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealed that he owned 9.2% of the company, making him its largest stockholder.
April 5, 2022: Musk was invited by Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to join the board of directors, to which Musk initially agreed.
April 11, 2022: Musk declined the offer from Agrawal to join the board. Later texts would reveal that this occurred after the Twitter CEO berated Musk for talking about “Twitter dying,” which Agrawal said made his job harder.
April 14, 2022: Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, an offer the company said it is considering.
April 14, 2022: Musk said at a TED Talk that his desire to buy Twitter is due to a fear that if Twitter loses trust among the public, it will create an increase in “civilizational risk,” implying that improving Twitter’s speech policies are critical for society.
April 25, 2022: Twitter agreed to accept Musk’s offer of $54.20, much to the excitement of shareholders.
May 13, 2022: Musk stated on Twitter that the deal with the social media platform is on hold for unspecified reasons. He later said that it was due to spam bot counts.
June 8, 2022: Musk claimed on Twitter and at public events that Twitter had 20% or more bots on the website, which is significantly more than the 5% Twitter disclosed in its SEC filings. Twitter responded first by elaborating on its methods for determining bots on the platform, followed by offering Musk access to a “firehose” of data so he could confirm Twitter’s methods for himself.
July 8, 2022: Musk terminated his agreement to acquire Twitter, claiming that the company had not answered his questions about spam bots sufficiently to justify his purchase.
July 12, 2022: Twitter’s legal team filed a lawsuit against Musk to force him to uphold his deal in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The suit argues that Musk ended the deal after seeing his Tesla stock drop in value and getting cold feet over the deal.
July 19, 2022: A judge in the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled for an expedited trial, setting a date for Oct. 17 to Oct. 21. The two parties quickly begin to make their case.
Aug. 05, 2022: Musk filed a countersuit against Twitter, alleging fraud and a miscounting of bot accounts.
Aug. 23, 2022: Peiter Zatko, the former head of security at Twitter, came forward as a whistleblower. Zatko alleged that Twitter had failed to take enough action to protect users’ data. He also echoed Musk’s concerns about Twitter’s methods for counting spam bots on the platform.
Sept. 12, 2022: Musk claimed in second and third termination letters that Zatko’s release from the company justified his decision to end the deal with Twitter. Twitter dismissed the claims, declaring them “invalid and wrongful.”
Sept. 13, 2022: The majority of Twitter’s stakeholders voted in favor of Musk acquiring Twitter despite the legal trial.
Sept. 28, 2022: Court documents revealed that Musk’s researchers could not substantiate his claims that Twitter had lied about its bot counts before he decided to end the deal.
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Sept. 30, 2022: Musk’s texts discussing the deal were unveiled by court proceedings, offering significant insights into his decision to pursue the deal. These texts included him expressing concerns about free speech on Twitter to his friends and future co-funders. He also was concerned about how the deal might go in light of the Ukraine-Russia war.
Oct. 4, 2022: Musk sent a letter to Twitter saying he would agree to pay the original $52.40 price to take the company private. It remains unclear if Twitter will accept Musk’s offer.
