To say that something is surprising within the soap opera opened by Elon Musk with Twitter is a bit redundant, because the process itself was already a surprise, and from his first steps the billionaire has been concerned, consciously or unconsciously, to turn it into a kind of media spectacle that, personally, has reminded me somewhat of the grotesque as a genre. Or to the charlotada, to put it in castizo.
So the last few months news of new functions in test have been interspersed with others about the advances (or, almost better said, setbacks) in what aimed to be one of the most mediatic operations in the technology sector for this 2022. After a torrent of information, however, the pace slowed down substantially, almost implying that everything was going well , and that sooner or later Elon Musk would take control of Twitter.
Nothing is further from reality. Just a couple of days ago we wondered if everything was going ahead or if, on the contrary, Musk was thinking of going back. And we were not wrong, because only a few hours later the bombing came, Elon Musk withdrew the purchase offer from him and, consequently, put the future of Twitter, the operation and his own in the hands of the courts that, with almost total certainty, they will have to participate in the process.
And it is that, with the reverse gear announced by Musk, A tremendously uncertain future opens up for all parties, but it looks especially bad for the billionaire, that he might have to face some truly dire consequences after having acted as he has done. And when I say lousy I mainly mean very, very expensive. Maybe a billion dollars, but also maybe a lot more.
As we told you yesterday, Bret Taylor, president of Twitter, confirmed that the board of directors of the social network intends to carry out the operation under the conditions initially agreed. In other words, it does not seem that they are going to limit themselves to claiming the billion dollars that both parties promised to pay if they did not complete the operation. And why not? Why does this not seem to be enough for the current board of directors?
We will have the answer to this question tomorrow, Monday, when the markets open and we will see the price of Twitter shares. What many analysts expect is a substantial fall, which could make the value of the shares can drop even below $25 per share and, what is even more worrying, that said devaluation is maintained over time (at the close of Friday the titles traded for 36.81 dollars). Let’s remember that in the purchase agreement they were appraised at $54.20.
Legal battles at this level are always uncertain, so the results range from Musk being able to walk away scot-free and Twitter having seen its value halve, until the billionaire is finally forced to buy Twitter under the terms initially agreed upon. , despite the fact that the value of the social network has been reduced by half. With all the options in between.
Most analysts believe that Musk has it the worst, because his argument about the bots and the lack of collaboration on the part of Twitter seems quite difficult to prove, if it is true, and his position is even more compromised by a series of circumstances external to this operation but that, without a doubt, Yes, they have affected their personal image and their assets and that of their companies. For now, as strange as it may sound, Musk should cross his fingers so that Twitter’s shares do not fall into the abyss predicted by some analysts.
The shock wave could also spread to other companies involved in the operation, and that they expected to collect “their share” at the conclusion of it. These will undoubtedly put pressure on both parties to return to the negotiating table and conclude the purchase. However, the argument they use, which suggests that Musk can ask for a reduction in the price, does not seem to get a positive response from the board of directors.
Thus, and depending on who you ask, if he loses, Musk may have to pay the billion dollars and be left with nothing, he may have to pay Twitter compensation for the loss of the value of his shares and be left without nothing… or you may finally have to buy Twitter, even though you don’t seem to want to anymore. And yes, I say it seems, because with Elon Musk it has already become more than clear that you cannot take anything for sure.
With information from Yahoo! Finance/NBC News
