Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

FrozenDarkness

macrumors 68000
Mar 21, 2009
1,762
998
I suspect Elon was finding a tricky way to divest even more Tesla without causing a panic. Saw multiple options in a Twitter purchase, likely suspecting that Twitter had made some material misstatements in their SEC filings, and took a calculated gamble.

Twitter seems a pretty sloppy company sitting on a pile of unrealized potential. With the board they have, the management they had, and their hubris, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if there is fraudulent misrepresentations in their filings.
Pretty big accusation. I can tell you this. There is no GAAP or SEC definition for “spam” bot so unless you think twitter knowingly lied and has secret documentation proven as such, sloppiness wont be prosecuted
 

FrozenDarkness

macrumors 68000
Mar 21, 2009
1,762
998
Would love to see Elon produce evidence based on the fact that he probably personally purchased a bunch of bots
 

ikramerica

macrumors 68000
Apr 10, 2009
1,565
1,858
I’ve never bought a company before, but I have bought a house. You don’t just make up stuff you want to inspect or need more info on after you signed the agreement. You would have to materially prove that the information rpovided to you was a lie
If you waive your right to an inspection and other contingencies, true.

I know that I have backed out of a purchase because the garage door was so low that suv couldn't fit. And I paid no damages. And on some purchases there were sufficient material deficiencies to force a reduction.

I know that I also forced someone to follow through on a purchase they tried to back out of. They said a parent had backtracked on helping pay the down payment, but they had provided a proof of funds letter from one parent providing part of the downpayment , and I answered them with a demand letter that it doesn't matter what the parent says now, they signed a legally binding document and someone has to pay or they lose their deposit. The sale miraculously went through, and somehow those people had the funds to build expensive side gates right after close...
 

FrozenDarkness

macrumors 68000
Mar 21, 2009
1,762
998
If you waive your right to an inspection and other contingencies, true.

I know that I have backed out of a purchase because the garage door was so low that suv couldn't fit. And I paid no damages. And on some purchases there were sufficient material deficiencies to force a reduction.

I know that I also forced someone to follow through on a purchase they tried to back out of. They said a parent had backtracked on helping pay the down payment, but they had provided a proof of funds letter from one parent providing part of the downpayment , and I answered them with a demand letter that it doesn't matter what the parent says now, they signed a legally binding document and someone has to pay or they lose their deposit. The sale miraculously went through, and somehow those people had the funds to build expensive side gates right after close...
You dont “waive” anything in a sense you dont have a right to inspection. You just decline to put any contingency. Most contracts are as is and you add requirements.
 

kaycrystal626

macrumors 6502
Oct 11, 2018
384
585
Twitter boards try to block Elon from purchasing in the beginning. Now they are desperate to sell. If anything, they should sell it to Elon for a discount price!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mr D

0092762

Cancelled
May 29, 2005
273
316
Musk exposed Twitter for what it is, a mirage designed to lean way left. Was his intention to only expose and step away? Who knows but I’m sure he’ll be fine.
I also enjoy the hypocrisy of those that loved him before for Tesla and then their disgust that he wanted free speech for all on a potential purchase. He wasn’t even a conservative and saw the error in silencing one side. That alone got him hated by a large group.
Elon Musk is not pro free speech, whoever thinks this is either uninformed or deliberately dishonest.
 

Jim Lahey

macrumors 68030
Apr 8, 2014
2,653
5,435
Elon Musk is not pro free speech, whoever thinks this is either uninformed or deliberately dishonest.

Yup. Beware false idols. There’s a narrative slowly simmering here that will likely end in a call for biometric digital ID in order to access the internet. Western governments are already working in parallel with various digital surveillance legislation and calls for encryption backdoors. But no one cares because the TV news didn’t tell them to. Musk is no one’s friend.
 

pauloregan

macrumors 6502
Nov 16, 2017
382
865
United Kingdom
His bid for Twitter was accepted the same as the Chinese stopped delivering batteries to Tesla. Business is all about timing and Elon ran out of luck at this point.
 

aknabi

macrumors 6502a
Jul 4, 2011
551
910
He did get to exercise his 8B in expiring Tesla options and convert those to cash under the radar and with a cover story... even if he pays a billion+ he's laughing to the bank (this isn't my theory and may just be a 4D chess excuse for being an impulsive nut).
 
  • Like
Reactions: StumpJumper

williedigital

Cancelled
Oct 4, 2005
499
132
Good. Now if just he and Twitter would go away completely and forever. Fake accounts, especially Russian ones, are literally Twitter's business model. Imagine if the NYT claimed to have 100 million subscribers and charged advertising rates accordingly, though 50 million didn't actually exist. Twitter in a nutshell.
Newspapers and similar publications REGULARLY inflate readership numbers via gifting/heavily discounting subscriptions. Doesn't happen much these days, but nice hotels used to put a copy of the paper outside your door every morning. Each room at this hotel was thus a "subscriber".

Any business acquisition that I have even seen involved the establishment of a "clean room" where vetted individuals could review granular internal company data on exactly these kinds of issues. The offer would only be made after all of these details were analyzed in depth. Also, any discussion whatsoever of the data would be a breach and trigger compensation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: visualseed

tigres

macrumors 601
Aug 31, 2007
4,213
1,326
Land of the Free-Waiting for Term Limits
It is undeniable, Musk is most likely the smartest man on the planet. The success of simply 1% of one of his many companies outweigh the success of any member on this board- with perhaps an exception for Arn combined.

It takes this kind of mind, to go balls to the wall and risk it all for everything he does. Risk is in his DNA, and nobody can deny the amount of multiple successful contributions to the world he has made. You don’t have to like him- but the man deserves respect- as he most certainly has earned it. Outspoken- yes, but seriously widen the view of his accomplishments. Pretty sure he’s got a plan with this twitter decision, and I am not going to pretend to fathom what it may be.
 

Macaholic868

macrumors 6502a
Feb 2, 2017
912
1,246
Musk appears to have bitten off more than he can afford to chew at the moment given what’s happening with Wall Streets current valuation of the assets he controls that make up his net worth.

I’ll fess up to a little schadenfreude in that regard. I’ve long thought that Elon thinks a little too highly of Elon. No doubt he’s been wildly successful for a reason but he really should dial back the smugness from time to time and try a little humble pie from time to time instead. Behind almost every successful person are others who helped them along the way mixed in with a little bit of good fortune at the right time.

It’ll be interesting to see if the court buys this “too many bots” argument. I’m not saying it is a manufactured excuse to get out of a deal his ego wouldn’t allow him to pass up on because of the media attention he received at the time prior to his financial positions taking a hit as others have outright accused him of because I don’t have the numbers in front of me that he and his team are looking at nor do I have any knowledge about how the numbers were derived but that’ll all come out in time if this goes to court and results in a trail. That would be an interesting development indeed because I’d love to know the true extent of the bot and fake account problems on Twitter and I know you can’t trust what the company puts out there for public consumption. If what Musk is asserting is true that’s bad for Twitter’s stock price any way you slice it.
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.