Elon Musk’s $44bn Twitter deal in serious jeopardy, report claims

The Tesla founder has questioned Twitter’s ability to reign in the number of spam accounts

Elon Musk ((c) dpa-Zentralbild POOL)

Elon Musk’s $44bn Twitter takeover appears in serious doubt after the billionaire decided he could not verify the number of fake accounts on the social media platform, a new report claims.

The Washington Post reported that Mr Musk had stopped “engaging in certain discussions” around the deal, citing anonymous sources.

The Tesla founder has repeatedly claimed, without presenting evidence, that Twitter is underestimating the number of bots on its platform.

In June, he said the company was attempting to “resist and thwart” his information rights ahead of the proposed $44bn acquisition of the social media platform.

In response, Twitter provided Mr Musk with a “firehose” of commercially sensitive data.

The Post also reported that Mr Musk was no longer in communication with a key investor in the deal.

The Independent did not immediately hear back after requesting comment from Mr Musk and Twitter.