Twitter Inc. recently made a payment of $809.2 million, which covers Elon Musk’s debt for the company’s failed attempt to buy his electric vehicle maker, Tesla Inc., in 2016. However, the question remains: will Musk accept the payment?
The situation dates back to 2016 when Twitter attempted to buy Tesla for $26 billion, which would have been its biggest acquisition ever. However, the deal fell apart due to a variety of reasons, including concerns over Twitter’s ability to finance the deal and a lack of support from Tesla’s board of directors.
As part of the failed deal, Twitter agreed to pay Musk $1.26 billion in the event that it was acquired by another company within a year of the failed acquisition attempt. Twitter was eventually acquired by Japanese company SoftBank in December 2017, triggering the payment to Musk.
Musk, who is known for his outspoken and often controversial tweets, has not publicly commented on whether he will accept the payment. However, there are a few factors to consider when trying to predict his response.
On one hand, Musk has publicly criticized Twitter in the past for not taking enough action against trolls and fake accounts. In July 2021, he even went as far as to say that he has deleted his own Twitter account “many times” due to the platform’s lack of moderation.
Additionally, Musk has a history of taking legal action against those he believes have wronged him or his companies. In 2018, he sued a former Tesla employee for allegedly sabotaging the company, and in 2020, he sued Alameda County in California over its coronavirus-related restrictions on Tesla’s operations.
On the other hand, Musk has also shown a willingness to forgive past grievances in the interest of moving forward. In 2018, he reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over tweets he made about taking Tesla private, which resulted in a $20 million fine and Musk stepping down as Tesla’s chairman. Musk has since said that the experience was “worth it” and that he has “no regrets.”
Ultimately, only time will tell whether Musk will accept Twitter’s payment or take legal action against the company for failing to acquire Tesla in 2016. Regardless of his decision, the situation serves as a reminder of the complexities of corporate acquisitions and the potential financial implications that can result from them.
