Musk says lower price for Twitter ‘not out of the question’, wiping out stock gains since deal was revealed

  • Elon Musk has questioned the accuracy of Twitter’s bot data, estimating fake users make up 20 per cent of all accounts
  • Recent comments have stoked speculation that Musk could walk away from the deal, driving Twitter shares lower

Elon Musk’s Twitter profile seen on a smartphone placed on printed Twitter logos in this picture illustration taken April 28. Photo: Reuters
Elon Musk stoked speculation that he could seek to renegotiate his takeover of Twitter Inc, saying a viable deal at a lower price wouldn’t be “out of the question”.

Twitter shares fell 8.2 per cent at the close of trading in New York. The stock has been dropping on speculation that Musk could walk away from the US$44 billion acquisition. That concern has grown in the past week as Musk has questioned Twitter’s publicly disclosed data on the percentage of spam and fake accounts on its social-media service.

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