Elon Musk demands information about twitter fake accounts for Deal to Move Forward
U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, known for Tesla cars, is demanding evidence from Twitter management of the number of fake and bot accounts.
Musk says the number of fake accounts should be less than five percent of all Twitter accounts.
Billionaire Elon Musk is demanding conditions from Twitter to buy the instant messaging service. Photo: Patrick Pleul / EPA
Elon Musk, a U.S. billionaire known for Tesla cars, says his plan to buy the instant messaging service Twitter will not go ahead unless he receives evidence from the company's management of the number of fake and bot accounts. Musk demands that the number of fake accounts is less than five percent of all Twitter accounts.
In April, Musk offered $ 44 billion (€ 42 billion) of Twitter’s total stock. Musk justified the deal by, among other things, increasing freedom of speech.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal says Twitter closes more than half a million apparent fake accounts every day. On Monday, Agrawal tried on several occasions on Twitter to clarify its company’s attempts to prune fake accounts for the service. Twitter has repeatedly estimated that there are less than five percent fake and bot accounts.
Musk, on the other hand, estimated at a conference in Miami on Monday that at least 20 percent of Twitter's 229 million accounts are fake and bot accounts.
The completion of the deal has long been suspected in the market, and Twitter's price has not recently been at a level that would match the price offered by Musk. There is even a suspicion in the market that Musk is trying to make the most of his offer.
