Twitter CEO doubts Elon Musk’s purchase: “We must be prepared for all scenarios”

Hours after Elon Musk said his Twitter purchase was on hold, the Twitter CEO said he still hoped the deal would close, but also suggested: “We must be prepared in all scenarios.”

In a series of tweets, Parag Agrawal did not directly address Musk’s earlier comments, but it weighed in on the leadership shake-up yesterday, which resulted in the dismissal of two top Twitter executives.

The move has garnered attention not only because the two have long been prominent leaders in the company, but because many do not expect Agrawal to retain the role of CEO after the acquisition is completed. Elon Musk has already said he doesn’t trust Twitter’s current leadership and reports suggest he intends to take over as CEO even temporarily.

“Changes that affect people are always difficult,” Agrawal said. “And some are asking why a lame CEO would make these changes if they can still get us. The short answer is very simple: while I hope the deal closes, we must be prepared for all situations and always do the right thing for Twitter. “

In particular, Agrawal’s comments appear to acknowledge the possibility that the Musk purchase may not proceed. The Tesla CEO, who said he wants to remove Twitter bots as one of his main goals, said the deal is “temporarily pending. of details that support the calculation that spam/fake accounts account for less than 5% of users. “He later added that” he’s still focused on getting. “

Meanwhile, Twitter is also trying to navigate the widespread uncertainty among employees, many of whom are uncomfortable with Musk’s plans for the company. In addition to cutting top product executives and its revenue on Thursday, the company also laid off all new hires and recalled some job postings in an effort to reduce costs.

Agrawal said on Friday that he would continue to “make tough decisions if necessary.” “I won’t excuse the deal to avoid making important decisions for the health of the company, or any Twitter leader, ”he tweeted.

Musk suspended the purchase

“The Twitter deal has temporarily suspended pending details supporting the estimate that fake/spam accounts represent less than 5% of users,” Musk tweeted on Friday.

News of Twitter’s purchase suspension has caused shares to plummet near 20%, up to approximately $ 36.5, in continued trading prior to the opening of Wall Street, known as premarket.

Musk announced last month that he had a 9% stake in the social network board and tried to buy the rest of the company.

On March 28, Twitter’s board of directors accepted Musk’s acquisition offer for $ 44,000 million, at the rate of $ 54.20 per share, even though the operation has not yet closed and must be approved by regulators. .

In a tweet, billionaire automaker owner Tesla posted a link to an article published by Reuters on May 2 that mentioned a financial report on Twitter estimating that fake or spam accounts is worth less than 5% of users. “profitable daily active users” in the first quarter of the year.

However, the company also warns that the estimate is based on a sample of accounts and that “the actual number of fake or spam accounts may be higher than estimated“.

“The Twitter deal is temporarily on hold while details are pending to support the calculation that spam/fake accounts effectively represent less than 5% of users,” Musk said, expressing skepticism about in the data.