Musk warns Twitter: Deal may not go through

Billionaire businessman Elon Musk said if Twitter doesn’t provide data on fake accounts, it will withdraw its $44 billion bid to buy the company.

Musk, who had made a $44 billion bid to buy Twitter, later announced that the deal was temporarily on hold as the process continued to determine that spam and fake accounts were indeed under 5 percent.

In a letter to the Twitter company, Musk stated that Twitter had “clearly” breached its responsibilities under the agreement and that he reserved the right to cancel the purchase he was offering.

The letter states: “Musk believes that Twitter has appeared to have failed in its commitments expressly set out in the Agreement, raising suspicions that the company is hiding the requested data.”

The letter, written by Musk’s attorneys, said, “Musk believes the company has struggled to comply with the demands and that its right to know has been obstructed.”

Twitter shares fell in the pre-opening Trading up 5.5 percent at $37.95; Tesla shares, of which Musk is CEO, rose 3.5 percent.