negotiations for Twitter purchase from Elon Musk A conflict between the billionaire and Parag Agrawal, the CEO of the company, who was publicly arguing about the actual number of fake accounts on the platform, turned into a real battle, in which there were even rude emojis.
Since the initial purchase offer was presented on April 14, Musk has repeatedly questioned the data offered by the social network.
In the most recent dispute, the world’s richest man suggested that fake users make up 20% of the total Twitter base, and no less than 5%, as the company claims, would be a reason for the suspension of operation.
There’s even a poop emoji in discussions about fake Twitter accounts
While shares of the platform have fluctuated with each new intrigue launched, there has been speculation that Elon Musk’s intention is to renegotiate the deal to lower the $44 million valuation that was agreed upon.
As this comes to light, Twitter continues to lose the head of key industries in the company.
The billionaire’s latest attack on the social network was with an ironic poll.
“Twitter claims that over 95% of daily active users are real, unique people. Has anyone had this experience?” posted on the network with two options for responses: two smiley emoji or “who, me?” followed by a robot emoji. .
Twitter claims that over 95% of daily active users are real, unique people. Has anyone had this experience?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 17 May 2022
Active Twitter user Elon Musk uses the network almost like a diary of his thought stream.
For example, last week it even announced that the platform had “temporarily suspended” its purchase agreement and expected to “calculate that fake/spam accounts actually represent less than 5% of users.”
Data on fake accounts is contained in a document submitted by Twitter to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to the billionaire, it was on this basis that he made his offer of $44 million to buy the platform.
Hours after “causing” news of the possibility of suspending the deal, Musk backed down and said he was “still committed” to the acquisition.
And he reported that his team will test bot users with a random sample of 100 followers.
Still determined to buy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2022
A few days later, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal decided to indirectly respond to the billionaire via the social network.
In a series of messages on the platform, he began by explaining that spammers were affecting the “experience of real people on Twitter,” which hurt the company’s business.
“Therefore, it is highly recommended that we detect and remove as much spam as possible each day. Anyone who claims otherwise is wrong.”
Agrawal went on to explain that fake accounts cannot simply be classified as “human” and “non-human.”
“[As contas de] More advanced spam uses coordinated human + automation combinations. They also compromise real accounts and use them to further their campaigns. So it’s sophisticated and hard to catch.”
The CEO said that more than 500,000 fake accounts are suspended from Twitter every day, many of which are suspended before they can actually access the platform.
We suspend over half a million spam accounts every day, usually before any of you see them on Twitter. And every week, we lock millions of accounts we suspect may be spam if they don’t pass human verification tests (captchas, phone verification, etc.).
– Parag Agrawal (@paraga) 16 May 2022
“We know we’re not perfect at catching spam,” Agrawal admitted.
“We know that some of them are still running. We measure it within ourselves. And every quarter, < 5% of monetizable daily active users [mDAU, em inglês] Reported for the quarter are spam accounts.”
The executive said that every human review to verify fake accounts is based on Twitter’s spam rules and uses public and private data, such as IP address and phone number, to evaluate each case.
In an ironic response, Elon Musk said, “Have you tried calling them?” He asked.
Have you tried calling them?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 16 May 2022
Agrawal ignored the billionaire’s comment and continued to say that the private prediction of fake accounts on the social network cannot be shared publicly.
“Unfortunately, given the critical need to use public and private information (which we cannot share), we do not believe this particular estimate can be made externally.
From the outside, it’s not even possible to know which accounts are counted as mDAUs on a given day.”
Musk responded to this message with a poop emoji. “So how do advertisers know what they’re getting for their money? This is critical to Twitter’s financial health.”
So how do advertisers know what they’re getting for their money? This is essential to Twitter’s financial health.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 16 May 2022
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In new attacks, Musk says fake accounts make up 20% of Twitter
The indirect discussion between Elon Musk and Parag Agrawal continued with the billionaire talking to himself on the social network and again questioning the real number of fake accounts on the network.
Tesla’s owner claimed, without proof, that among the platform’s 229 million users, there are 20% spam accounts the company offers, not 5%.
“20% fake/spam accounts, 4 times [mais] Twitter’s claims could be *much* higher,” Musk said, signaling that the deal won’t move forward until the real number is proven by the platform.
“My offer was based on the accuracy of Twitter’s SEC filings. Yesterday, the Twitter CEO flatly refused to show any evidence of <5%. This deal can't move forward until he makes it."
If 20% fake/spam accounts are 4x what Twitter claims, it could be *much* higher.
My proposal was based on the correctness of Twitter’s SEC filings.
Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO flatly refused to show any evidence of <5%.
This deal can’t move forward until he makes it.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 17 May 2022
Financial market experts speculate that all of Elon Musk’s recent attacks on Twitter were aimed at renegotiating the deal to reduce the amount owed by the billionaire.
(16) He acknowledged this possibility by attending a conference in Miami on Monday. “You can’t pay the same price for something much worse than they claim,” he said at the event.
Responding directly to whether the purchase could be completed at a different price, he said “out of the question”.
“The more questions I ask, the greater my anxiety. They claim to have this complex methodology that only they can understand… There can be no more complex, deep mystery than the human soul or something.”
Shares on the social network closed at $38.32 on Tuesday, up 2.5% from the $54.20 price Musk agreed to pay if he completed the purchase.
It is worth remembering that if Musk or Twitter pulls out of the deal, there is a $1 billion fine for the party leaving the deal. Despite this, experts speculate that the billionaire may be willing to pay for breach of contract.
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Twitter lost three more executives
Twitter continues to lose executives in key positions while the “hurricane Musk” is not calming down. According to internal memos obtained by, three senior employees are leaving the company. Bloomberg.
Twitter’s head of data science and vice presidents of product and services management resigned after it emerged that he was in talks about a potential acquisition in late March, more than a week before Musk announced he would buy Twitter. platform shares.
The official offer to buy the company was made only on April 14. Since then, employees have been restless and worried that the billionaire’s arrival will radically change the company’s culture.
The internal repercussions of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition were reported by journalist Casey Newton in the Platformer newsletter.
Another big general concern is that many Twitter employees receive half or more of their compensation in stock. With Musk, the owner of the platform, the company will no longer be traded on the stock market, as it will be kept private.
“One person said to me, ‘Group chats are debating whether it makes economic sense to work on Twitter,'” Newton said.
In a presentation to the company’s investors that New York Times (NYT) had access, Musk confirmed that he intends to lay off many people in order to hire more people in the future.
He predicts that by 2025 the company will have 11,072 employees – more than 3,500 hires in addition to about 7,500 today.
“Musk will likely lay off employees as part of his acquisition before bringing in new engineering talent,” one person familiar with the situation said.
Share-based compensation costs are also expected to rise from $914 million in 2022 to just over $3 billion in 2028.
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source: Noticias
