Tesla chief says social media company miscounted accounts as part of a ‘scheme’ to mislead investors
Elon Musk has accused Twitter of deliberately miscounting the number of spam accounts on its platform as part of a “scheme” to mislead investors.
The Tesla chief executive made the allegations in a countersuit against the social media company, which is taking Musk to court in an attempt to make him complete an agreed $44bn (£36.5bn) takeover of the business.
Continue reading...Twitter rebuts billionaire’s lawsuit and his arguments for abandoning the takeover as legal standoff heats up
Twitter has rejected Elon Musk’s claims in court that he had legitimate reasons to back out of a $44bn deal to purchase the social media platform, marking the latest development in a dramatic legal showdown.
In a filing made public on Thursday, Twitter called Musk’s arguments for abandoning the deal “a story, imagined in an effort to escape a merger agreement that Musk no longer found attractive once the stock market and along with it, his massive personal wealth, declined in value”.
Continue reading...Billionaire seeks material on how JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs advised platform during negotiations
Lawyers for Elon Musk have subpoenaed JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs for records relating to the billionaire’s plan to purchase Twitter.
Musk has requested the banks turn over “documents and communications” relating to how they advised Twitter during negotiations, which Musk abruptly backed out of last month after offering to purchase the website for $44bn in April, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Some US firms have announced hiring slowdowns and layoffs in recent weeks amid fears of recession
As top tech companies prepare to release their quarterly earnings reports starting next week, investors are bracing for bad news.
Several US tech companies have announced hiring slowdowns and layoffs in recent weeks, and the difficulties are expected to continue. “It’s not a great time for tech in general,” said Paul Verna, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, a market analysis firm. “There is no question that companies are going to be spending less, cutting back budgets, and maybe implementing hiring freezes. None of that is good news for the next quarter.”
Continue reading...In her first post in nearly three years, the Hustlers actor said she tried to kill herself after a negative response to tweets she had sent
Constance Wu has said that she attempted suicide after backlash to a series of “careless” tweets in 2019.
In a statement marking her first return to Twitter in nearly three years, the Hustlers actor announced her upcoming book, Making a Scene, and explained that she was “afraid of coming back on social media because I almost lost my life from it: 3 years ago, when I made careless tweets about the renewal of my TV show, it ignited outrage and internet shaming that got pretty severe.”
In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.
Continue reading...The SEC has asked the Tesla chief to submit any material aimed at influencing shareholders after it finds issue with previous filings
The US financial watchdog has stepped up the pressure on Elon Musk over his attempt to buy Twitter by asking further questions about his filings during the process.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) asked Musk why he did not amend a filing related to the deal in a letter sent last month, according to correspondence disclosed by lawyers representing the Tesla CEO on Thursday. The disclosure by Musk’s lawyers also reveals that the SEC has asked the entrepreneur to file any material aimed at influencing shareholders properly, after pointing out an issue with one such filing.
Continue reading...Company seeks to force completion of sale, saying billionaire ‘refuses to honor his obligations’
Twitter sued Elon Musk on Tuesday to force him to complete his $44bn takeover of the social media giant after he announced on Friday he would withdraw his bid.
“Musk’s exit strategy is a model of hypocrisy,” the lawsuit said, accusing the billionaire of making “bad faith” arguments against Twitter and carrying out “public and misleading attacks” on the company.
Continue reading...Billionaire avoids talking of collapse of $44bn deal but talks about colonizing Mars and boosting Earth’s birthrates at conference
Elon Musk reportedly talked about the colonization of Mars and boosting Earth’s birthrates during his keynote address at Allen & Co’s Sun Valley conference on Saturday, but he avoided discussing his attempt to withdraw from his $44bn bid to buy Twitter.
Musk’s talk to close out this year’s edition of the Idaho conference which annually draws tech, media and finance gurus became one of the hottest tickets after lawyers for the Tesla boss filed notice Friday that he was terminating his bid to acquire Twitter. The billionaire accused the social media firm of failing to provide information on bot accounts, among other things, making observers wonder whether he would address such complaints at his speech scheduled for the next day.
Continue reading...Analysis: billionaire could be fined $1bn for walking away – and he risks new lawsuits and even his job, experts say
Elon Musk withdrew his $44bn bid to buy Twitter on Friday after a months-long saga that rankled investors and shook the market, kicking off what may be a long legal battle with the company.
The Twitter chair, Bret Taylor, said on Friday that the social media firm would sue in a Delaware court to enforce the deal. The deal included a “specific performance” clause, a provision that may force Musk to buy the company as long as he has financing in place. Musk in May said he had secured financing to complete the deal.
Continue reading...Investigation under way after pictures of Elon Musk uploaded to video channel and posts about NFTs seen on Twitter
The British army has confirmed a breach of its Twitter and YouTube accounts and an investigation is under way after both official sites appeared to have been hacked.
The army’s YouTube channel features videos on cryptocurrency and images of billionaire businessman Elon Musk. The official Twitter account has retweeted a number of posts appearing to relate to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These are crypto assets – such as an image, video or text – of which people can be certified as owners.
Continue reading...Jeremy Maluta reveals he is behind pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 but says he has no media experience or connection to Daniel Andrews
The man behind the formerly anonymous pro-Labor Twitter account PRGuy17 has unmasked himself, after far-right figure Avi Yemini attempted to use the courts to reveal whether the account had ties to the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews.
Jeremy Maluta told YouTuber Friendlyjordies in a video released on Friday that he has no PR or social media experience, works in an industry completely unrelated to politics or the media, and has no connections to Andrews.
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Continue reading...Liberal leader says refugee advocate’s May win in full federal court was a ‘miscarriage of justice’ and applies for special leave to appeal
Peter Dutton has sought leave to appeal in the high court against his loss in the defamation case he brought against Shane Bazzi, questioning whether there had been a “miscarriage of justice”.
The Liberal party leader has filed an application for special leave to appeal against his loss in the full federal court, arguing that the appeal court erred by finding Bazzi’s tweet “Peter Dutton is a rape apologist” did not convey the defamatory meaning that he “excused rape”.
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Continue reading...World’s richest person to take questions from employees amid concerns over attempted takeover
Elon Musk will speak to Twitter employees this week for the first time since launching his $44bn (£36bn) bid in April, a source said on Monday, citing an email from Twitter chief executive, Parag Agrawal, to staff.
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, and Musk will take questions directly from Twitter employees, the source added.
Continue reading...Network ready to provide stream of daily data after world’s richest man threatened to pull out of $44bn purchase if Twitter refused
Twitter is preparing to comply with Elon Musk’s demand for data on fake accounts, after the Tesla chief executive threatened to walk away from buying the business if it refused.
The social media company will provide the world’s richest man with access to a stream of data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted every day, according to the Washington Post.
Continue reading...It’s been a long and winding saga for the social media company and the Tesla CEO, filled with threats, breaches and ‘poison pills’
Elon Musk on Monday made his most viable threat yet to walk away from a $44bn deal to buy Twitter, accusing the company of committing a “material breach” by failing to disclose the number of bots on the platform.
The letter was published on the website of the US financial watchdog on Monday. He had previously tweeted that the deal “cannot move forward” until the spam and fake account issue had been resolved.
Continue reading...Atlassian boss Scott Farquhar says he’d be happy to poach Musk’s employees for remote jobs at his software company, which allows staff to work from home
Elon Musk’s order that Tesla workers return to the office has sparked a Twitter spat with Australian billionaire Scott Farquhar, after the Atlassian CEO suggested he would be happy to poach Musk’s staff for remote working positions.
In a memo sent to staff, headlined “Remote work is no longer acceptble” [sic], the Tesla CEO wrote that “anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours a week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers”.
Continue reading...Measure passed by Republican-led legislature seeks to bar platforms from removing user posts based on ‘viewpoint’
The US supreme court temporarily blocked a Texas law that would bar social media companies from removing user posts based on their “viewpoint”, as lower courts battle over whether it would violate first amendment rights.
In a 5-4 decision, the justices granted a request from two technology industry groups that have argued the Republican-backed measure would turn platforms into “havens of the vilest expression imaginable”.
Continue reading...Billionaire says report is ‘utterly untrue’ after allegation he paid $250k in 2018 to settle claim
Elon Musk has denied claims in a news report that he sexually harassed a flight attendant on a private jet in 2016, calling the accusations “utterly untrue”.
SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Musk, paid the female attendant $250,000 (£200,000) in a severance settlement after a sexual misconduct claim against the world’s richest person, according to the news website Business Insider.
Continue reading...Tesla CEO and world’s richest person expressed concerns about presence of fake accounts on platform
Elon Musk has cast further doubt over his $44bn (£35bn) takeover of Twitter after stating the deal “cannot move forward” until the social media company proves that less than 5% of its users are fake or spam accounts.
The Tesla chief executive used his Twitter account to say the agreed deal would not progress until the firm showed proof that only a small proportion of its users were fake.
Continue reading...News comes as Elon Musk, world’s richest man, is working to close a $44bn deal to acquire social media company
Twitter announced the departure of two top leaders in a major shakeup that comes as billionaire Elon Musk is working to close a $44bn deal to acquire the company.
In an email to employees on Thursday, chief executive Parag Agrawal said Twitter’s leaders for consumer product and revenue will leave the company. Agrawal said the company was temporarily pausing hiring, and would review all existing job offers to determine whether any “should be pulled back”.
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