Elon Musk threatened on Monday to call off his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about spam bot accounts.
Here’s a look at what happened between the billionaire Tesla CEO and the social media platform.
January 31: Musk begins buying Twitter stock in near-daily installments, acquiring a 5% stake in the company in mid-March.
March 26: Musk, who has 80 million Twitter followers and is active on the site, said he is “seriously thinking” about building an alternative to Twitter, questioning freedom of speech on the platform and whether Twitter undermines democracy. He also privately contacts Twitter board members, including his friend and co-founder Jack Dorsey.
March 27: After Musk privately informs them of his growing stake in the company, Musk begins talks with Twitter’s CEO and board members about possible board membership. Musk mentions taking Twitter private or starting a competitor, according to subsequent registration requests.
April 4: A filing reveals that Musk has quickly become Twitter’s largest shareholder after acquiring a 9% stake, or 73.5 million shares, worth approximately $3 billion.
April 5: Musk is offered a seat on Twitter’s board on the condition that he acquire no more than 14.9% of the company’s shares. CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet that “it became clear to us that he would be of great value to our Board.”
April 11: Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announces that Musk will not join the board after all.
April 15: Twitter’s board unanimously approves a “poison pill” defense in response to Musk’s proposed bid to thwart a hostile takeover.
April 21: Musk arranges $46.5 billion in funding to buy Twitter. The Twitter board is under pressure to negotiate.
April 25: Musk strikes a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion and sell the company. The outspoken billionaire has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he doesn’t think it lives up to its potential as a platform for free speech.
April 29: Musk sells about $8.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help fund Twitter’s purchase, according to regulations.
May 5: Musk bolsters his offer to buy Twitter with more than $7 billion pledges from a diverse group of investors, including Silicon Valley heavy hitters such as Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
May 10: Hinting at how he might change Twitter, Musk says he would roll back the Twitter ban on former President Donald Trump after January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol uprising, calling the ban a “morally bad thing.” decision” and “extremely foolish.”
May 13: Musk said his plan to buy Twitter has been put “temporarily on hold”. Musk said he needed to locate the number of spam and fake accounts on the social media platform. Twitter shares tumble, while Tesla shares bounce back sharply.
June 6: Musk threatens to end his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about his spambot accounts.
