Twitter shares slid late Thursday after a Washington Post report that Elon Musk's $44 billion deal to buy the social media giant is in danger.
The world's richest man has previously expressed misgivings
and even implied he could walk away from the deal over concerns about what he
believes are an abundance of fake accounts.
According to the Post, however, Musk has been unable to pin
down the percentage of Twitter accounts that are not genuine, despite being
given access to internal data.
While Musk has already made comments putting his commitment
to the deal in doubt, the latest report cited an anonymous source saying his
team is preparing for a "change in direction."
Twitter shares, which were already trading lower than the
price offered by Musk, sank about 4 percent on the news in after-market trades.
"The Twitter soap opera is clearly coming to some sort
of finale over the coming months as Musk makes the decision to stay (with a
lower price) or go," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.
"The Twitter deal has clearly caused chaos at
Twitter."
Ives expected Musk to reveal details of his fake account
concerns in the coming weeks.
During the Qatar Economic Forum last month, Musk said that
his Twitter purchase remained held up by "very significant" questions
about the number of fake users on the social network.
"So we are still awaiting resolution on that matter and
that is a very significant matter," the Tesla car and SpaceX exploration
chief said via a video link to the gathering.
Twitter executives have held firm that less than 5 percent
of accounts are bogus, with Musk saying he believes the number to be much
higher.
Musk said there were also questions about Twitter's debt.
The chances of Musk buying Twitter as originally negotiated
are slim, Ives said.
Wedbush set the chance of the deal happening at a lower price at 60 percent, leaving open the door to the possibility Musk will try to walk away with only paying a required $1 billion breakup fee.
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