Elon Musk says there are three issues that need to be resolved before he completes the Twitter acquisition process. As is known, Musk wants to buy Twitter worth USD 44 billion .
But the end of this acquisition is still a question mark after Musk announced he would delay buying Twitter and even threatened to cancel the agreement. The world's richest man must be prepared to pay $1 billion and may face lawsuits if he cancels the agreement.
Speaking at a recent Bloomberg event, Musk said there are a number of issues that need to be resolved before he can proceed with buying Twitter:
1. Fake accounts and bots
Musk has repeatedly said that the main problem is the number of fake accounts and bots on Twitter. The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla wants Twitter to specify how many of their users are real human accounts.
Twitter previously revealed that the number of fake accounts or bots on its platform is less than 5% of its daily active users. Musk cast doubt on the claim, saying that it was not the actual experience that Twitter users had.
"We're still waiting for that issue to be resolved, and it's a very significant issue," Musk said, as quoted by CNBC, Wednesday (22/6/2022).
Last week, Twitter's board of directors said the company remained committed to completing the transaction as stipulated. Twitter will also share its internal data on user counts and tweets with Musk's team.
2. Financing
The second challenge that Musk must resolve before proceeding with the purchase of Twitter is the portion of debt needed to finance it.
Musk had previously committed to paying $33.5 billion in cash. He also received a USD 1.7 billion equity financing commitment from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and crypto firm Binance.
Musk said the rest of the financing needed would come from bank loans. Despite being the richest person in the world, most of Musk's fortune is tied to Tesla stock. He has also sold and pledged Tesla shares as collateral for loans.
3. Shareholder approval
The final challenge Musk will have to overcome before proceeding with the acquisition is approval from Twitter shareholders. Twitter investors are expected to vote on the deal in late July or early August.
"Will the debt portion be met. And then will the shareholders vote in support?" Musk said.
Whether Musk will get enough support to go ahead with the acquisition remains a question mark. Last month, several Twitter shareholders sued Musk and the company over the messy acquisition process.
Twitter's own board of directors wants this acquisition completed and recommends shareholders to approve this deal