NEW DELHI: After temporarily shelving his $44 billion deal to acquire social media platform Twitter, Elon Musk said he remains committed to the acquisition.
The clarification came 2 hours after Musk tweeted that the deal was “temporarily on hold” until he could learn more details about the volume of spam and fake accounts on the platform.
Shortly after announcing his decision to put the deal on hold, Musk took to Twitter again and confirmed that he plans to complete the acquisition.

In his earlier tweet, Musk referenced a May 2 Twitter regulatory submission that included an estimate that less than 5% of Twitter users were spam and fake accounts.

Known for his outspoken and sometimes impulsive style, Musk’s tweet got many thinking about the future of the deal.
The regulatory filing, cited by Musk, came days after he tweeted that one of his priorities would be removing “spam bots” from the platform.

Twitter said in the filing that it faces several risks until the deal with Musk is finalized, including whether advertisers will continue to spend on Twitter and “potential uncertainty regarding our future plans and strategies.”
Earlier in the day, Twitter’s chief executive officer (CEO) Parag Agrawal told employees in a memo that two senior executives overseeing the consumer and revenue divisions will be leaving the social media company.
This is one of the biggest changes to Twitter since billionaire Musk announced he was buying it.
The company was targeting $7.5 billion in annual revenue and 315 million daily users by the end of 2023, but withdrew those targets in its most recent earnings report.
Agrawal also said Twitter will pause most recruitment and review all existing job postings to see if any “should be withdrawn.”
Following Musk’s announcement, Twitter shares fell 17.7% in premarket trade to $37.10, the lowest level since Musk announced his stake in the company in early April and a subsequent “best and final” bid made it private for $54.20 per share.
Meanwhile, Tesla shares, against which Musk has secured $6.25 billion in financing for the acquisition, are up about 5%.
(With contributions from agencies)
Consider Elon Musk announces Twitter deal is on hold; here’s why