A Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Friday revealed that Musk had informed Twitter that he was backing out of the deal over alleged deceptions involving the platform’s “fake or spam accounts.” Twitter’s board soon announced plans to sue Musk for breaking the contract, saying in a statement that it would “enforce the merger agreement” in court and was “confident” of victory.
Musk’s plans quickly inspired ridicule on Twitter, with several users apparently relishing the platform’s plans to sue the tech mogul and noting that he could soon be on the hook for a $1 billion termination penalty fee under the terms of the agreement. Some also pointed out that stock values for both Tesla and Twitter fell sharply in the months following the announcement of the deal.
“Rocket Boy taps out,” tweeted John Anthony Castro, CEO of tax preparation software company AiTax and a Republican 2024 presidential candidate. “Kinda hard to use Tesla stock as collateral when the stock tanks. Twitter now plans to sue Elon Musk for the $1 BILLION dollar penalty. Womp womp lol.”
“Elon Musk: tanks Tesla’s stock price and costs himself a billion dollar termination fee by backing out of a contract he waived due diligence on, all for a temporary ego stroke,” musician Anthony D’Amato tweeted. “Weirdos on the internet: This guy’s playing six dimensional chess!”
“Musk sold billions in Tesla stock after initially announcing the Twitter acquisition plan, presumably to increase his liquidity for the deal,” investment strategist Lyn Alden tweeted. “Will he be buying the Tesla shares back now that the deal is terminated, or nah?”
“Called this 2 1/2 months ago,” tweeted activist and writer Amy Siskind. “Elon Musk is not a serious person. Even when the stock market was 20% higher, he was already overpaying. He is like the Joe Rogan of M & A - all blustery and stupidity for attention.”
“Elon Musk needs to be arrested for Twitter stock manipulation,” tweeted multimedia journalist David Leavitt.
“Twitter just marked itself safe from Elon Musk,” film critic Amanda Taylor tweeted.
Others celebrated the news while suggesting that the platform should now “ban” Musk. The billionaire, who recently announced that he would “vote Republican” in the future, vowed to purchase the platform while complaining that the company’s moderation standards were an assault on “free speech” and “censored” conservatives.
“Twitter should ban Elon Musk,” Leavitt also tweeted.
“Twitter should ban Elon Musk just for the lols,” Democratic strategist Max Burns tweeted.
“Twitter should ban Elon Musk just because he’s annoying and it’d drive him batty,” tweeted writer and podcaster Joshua Holland.
“I wonder if the powers that be at Twitter are tempted to ban Elon Musk for the headache he’s caused them (not to mention the stock value plummeting after he bailed on the deal,” video game journalist Erik Kain tweeted.
“At the rate things are going Twitter will suspend @elonmusk’s account and then he has to buy Twitter just to get his account back,” Sven Henrich, lead market strategist for NorthmanTrader, tweeted alongside a “tears of joy” emoji.
Musk was also mocked for his large and growing number of offspring. Earlier this week, Business Insider reported that Musk had fathered twins born last November to an executive at one of his companies, bringing the total number of his known children to nine.
“BREAKING: Elon Musk pulls out of Twitter deal which is a first for the father of nine,” actor Feodor Chin tweeted.
“Now that Elon Musk is bailing on the Twitter deal, he’ll have more time to spend with his children,” tweeted financial planner Douglas Boneparth.
“Seeing how easy it is for Elon Musk to pull out, I’m surprised he has so many kids,” screenwriter Randi Mayem Singer tweeted.
“@elonmusk is consistent,” radio host Mo Kelly tweeted. “He tries to pull out too late and gets sued or ends up with 10 children. Either way, he will pay in court.”
“You’d think the twitter deal was one of Elon Musk kids [the] way he just abandoned it,” tweeted comedian Mohanad Elshieky.
Newsweek has reached out to Tesla for comment.
