Umamah Bakharia | ub@radioislam.co.za

4min read
5 October 2022 | 11:00 am CAT

Elon Musk says he is ready to push through with his buyout of Twitter at the original agreed price of $44 billion. This comes as a trial is underway over his efforts to withdraw from the deal.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the world’s richest man says that he sent Twitter a letter vowing to honour the contract.

Musk in July said he was cancelling the purchase because Twitter misled him concerning the number of fake “bot” accounts, allegations that the company rejected.

Twitter then took Musk to court to get him to oblige to the deal he had signed, arguing that Musk was making excuses to walk away.

Twitter shares jumped 12.7 percent to $47.93 before trading was halted for the second time, while Tesla shares rose by about 2.4 percent. Twitter ended up over 22 percent at $52.00.

Twitter confirmed to the news agency AFP that it received the letter from Musk and said it intends to close the buyout deal at the agreed-on price of $54.20 per share.

Musk is scheduled to be questioned under oath by Twitter attorneys later this week.