Twitter to Share Data at Heart of Musk Deal Dispute

Analysts have doubts about Elon Musk's notion of relying on subscriptions instead of ads at Twitter Britta Pedersen POOL/AFP/File
Analysts have doubts about Elon Musk's notion of relying on subscriptions instead of ads at Twitter Britta Pedersen POOL/AFP/File
TT

Twitter to Share Data at Heart of Musk Deal Dispute

Analysts have doubts about Elon Musk's notion of relying on subscriptions instead of ads at Twitter Britta Pedersen POOL/AFP/File
Analysts have doubts about Elon Musk's notion of relying on subscriptions instead of ads at Twitter Britta Pedersen POOL/AFP/File

Twitter will yield to Elon Musk's demand for internal data central to a standoff over his troubled $44 billion bid to buy the platform, US media reported on Wednesday.

The news comes just days after the Tesla chief threatened to back out of his deal to purchase Twitter, accusing it of failing to provide data on fake accounts, AFP said.

The Washington Post, New York Times and website Axios cited unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations as saying Twitter's board decided to let Musk access its full "firehose" of internal data associated with the hundreds of millions of tweets posted daily at the service.

"This would end the major standoff between Musk and the board on this hot button issue which has paused the deal," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a tweet.

Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal has said that fewer than five percent of accounts active on any given day at Twitter are bots, but that analysis cannot be replicated externally due to the need to keep user data private.

About two dozen companies already pay to access the massive trove of internal Twitter data, which includes records of tweets along with information about accounts and devices used to fire them off, according to the Post.

Twitter declined to comment on the reports but has defended its responsiveness to Musk's requests, and vowed to complete the deal on the original terms.

The mercurial Musk agreed to buy Twitter in a $44 billion deal in late April.

Twitter's top legal officer has told employees that a special shareholder vote whether to approve the buyout deal could be held in late July or early August, according to Bloomberg.

Musk began making significant noise about fake accounts in mid-May, saying on Twitter he could walk away from the transaction if his concerns were not addressed.

Some observers have seen Musk's questioning of Twitter bots as a means to end the takeover process, or to pressure Twitter into lowering the price.

The potential for Musk to take Twitter private has stoked protest from critics who warn his stewardship will embolden hate groups and disinformation campaigns.

US securities regulators have also pressed Musk for an explanation of an apparent delay in reporting his Twitter stock buys.

Twitter shares finished the official trading day slightly above $40, significantly lower than the $54.20 Musk agreed to pay when he inked the purchase deal.


Related articles

Sudan Delays Signing of Deal to Usher in Civilian Government

Arab World Sudan Delays Signing of Deal to Usher in Civilian Government

Sudan Delays Signing of Deal to Usher in Civilian Government

Sudan’s military leaders and pro-democracy forces will delay the signing of an agreement to usher in a civilian government, both sides said in a joint…

Asharq Al Awsat
World FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it says is a test launch of a hypersonic missile on Jan. 11, 2022 in North Korea. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

North Korea Fires More Missiles, Seventh Launch in Two Weeks

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea early Sunday, Seoul's military said, the seventh such launch in two weeks, just hours after a nuclear…

Asharq Al Awsat
Entertainment Italian-Tunisian actress Claudia Cardinale (2nd-L) poses in front of a mural of her during a street naming ceremony in her honor in Tunisia FETHI BELAID AFP

60s Filmstar Claudia Cardinale Honored in Tunisian Birthplace

Actress Claudia Cardinale may have been a sixties legend of Italian and French cinema, but in Tunisia, in the portside district where she grew up, she says she…

Asharq Al Awsat
الخليج ولي العهد السعودي يبعث لأمير قطر برسالة تتناول تعزيز علاقات البلدين

ولي العهد السعودي يبعث لأمير قطر برسالة تتناول تعزيز علاقات البلدين

تلقى الشيخ تميم بن حمد آل ثاني، أمير دولة قطر، رسالة من الأمير محمد بن سلمان بن عبد العزيز، ولي العهد نائب رئيس مجلس الوزراء وزير الدفاع السعودي، تتعلق بتعزيز العلاقات الأخوية بين البلدين الشقيقين. وتسلم أمير قطر الرسالة من الأمير منصور بن خالد بن فرحان، سفير السعودية في الدوحة، الذي نقل له تحيات وتقدير خادم الحرمين الشريفين الملك سلمان بن عبد العزيز، وولي عهده. حضر اللقاء الشيخ محمد بن عبد الرحمن آل ثاني نائب رئيس مجلس الوزراء وزير الخارجية، والشيخ سعود بن عبد الرحمن آل ثاني رئيس الديوان الأميري.

«الشرق الأوسط» (الدوحة)
الاقتصاد ترتيب سعودي ـ قطري لإعادة مجلس الأعمال المشترك

ترتيب سعودي ـ قطري لإعادة مجلس الأعمال المشترك

يشهد القطاع الخاص في كل من السعودية وقطر حراكاً مكثفاً لإعادة ترتيب العلاقة، إذ يجري حالياً تشكيل مجلس الأعمال المشترك لدورته الجديدة، في خطوة تأتي بعد عودة العلاقات السياسية والاقتصادية بين البلدين خلال قمة قادة دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي التي استضافتها مدينة العلا –غرب المملكة– يناير (كانون الثاني) الماضي. ووفق معلومات حصلت عليها «الشرق الأوسط»، وجّه مجلس الغرف السعودية جميع المنتسبين للغرف التجارية الصناعية بمناطق المملكة بفتح الترشح لعضوية مجلس الأعمال المشترك المقرر حتى 2024، داعياً الراغبين في الترشح للعضوية إلى الاطلاع على الشروط الخاصة وتعبئة النموذج المخصص مع إرفاق السيرة الذاتية والمست

«الشرق الأوسط» (الرياض)