Elon Musk says he will terminate his $US44 billion deal with Twitter

Elon Musk has announced the termination of his $US44 billion ($A64b) deal to take over Twitter sending shares in the social media giant tumbling 6 per cent.

Tesla chief Elon Musk is pulling out of his $A64 billion deal with Twitter saying he would terminate the $US44b takeover saying the company has failed to provide information the would-be platform’s chief needs to determine the true number of fake accounts run by spam bots.

The announcement by the world’s richest man caused Twitter shares to fall by 6 per cent in extended trading on Friday US time.

Mr Musk said Twitter was “in material breach of multiple provisions of that agreement” and appeared to have made “false and misleading representations” when entering into the agreement, according to a letter from Mr Musk’s lawyer filed with securities regulators.

The termination comes after a tense two months of a “will he-won’t he” situation over Mr Musk’s intentions while setting up a possible legal battle over what comes next for the social-media platform.

The world’s richest man Elon Musk has announced he is terminating his deal to take over Twitter. Picture: AFP

A response has yet to be heard from Twitter whose executives have said repeatedly over recent weeks that information and data requested by Mr Musk was being shared with him ahead of finalising the merger which would enforce an agreement at the agreed price and terms.

But Mr Musk’s lawyer has raised concerns over the estimates provided by Twitter on the actual number of its daily users that are fake or spam accounts saying it was an issue Mr Musk raised with the company three weeks after signing the deal.

Meanwhile, the tech tycoon has taken a swipe at US President Joe Biden who he lambasted for flubbing a serious moment on abortion in the US with a teleprompter gaffe compared to Ron Burgundy from the film, Anchorman.

The president was speaking at the White House to urge women voters to influence the outcome of abortion access, when he appeared to forget how teleprompters work.

“It is noteworthy, that the percentage of women who registered to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than the percentage of the men who do so,” Biden began.

“End of quote. Repeat the line,” he added, before leaning into the microphone for effect and doing exactly that, repeating the line.

Joe Biden accidentally reads the part on the teleprompter that says "repeat the line" when they wanted him to say the line again lmfao pic.twitter.com/pS3GdXPe5N

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 8, 2022

The viral clip caught the attention of Tesla CEO Twitter Musk, who warned two months ago that the power of the presidency lies in whoever controls the teleprompter.

“Whoever controls the teleprompter is the real President!” Musk tweeted alongside a meme from Anchorman.

In the film, the inability of Ron Burgundy to improvise led the anchorman, played by actor Will Ferrell, to lose his job after a teleprompter is knocked over.

Whoever controls the teleprompter is the real President! pic.twitter.com/1rcqmwLe9S

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2022

Musk shared an image of Ferrell in character saying, “you stay classy, San Diego. I’m Ron Burgundy?”

“Damn it!,” the producers shout. “Who typed a question mark on the Teleprompter? For the last time, anything you put on that prompter, Burgundy will read.

US President Joe Biden speaks at the White House. Picture: AFP

Elon Musk says the power of the presidency lies in whoever controls the teleprompter. AFP)

Speaking at the All-in tech conference in Miami in May, Musk said Biden’s inability to “get things done” to stop inflation would lead to a recession lasting from 18 months to two years.

“It’s hard to tell what Biden’s doing, to be totally frank,” he said at the conference.

“The real president is whoever controls the teleprompter. The path to power is the path to the teleprompter.”

“I do feel like if somebody were to accidentally lean on the teleprompter, it’s going to be like Anchorman. It’s going to be QQASDF123 type of thing,” he said.

Elon Musk has target Joe Biden with Anchorman memes for months. Picture: Supplied.

Biden on Friday called on Congress to pass a federal law to expand abortion access after the landmark Supreme Court ruling that returned the lawmaking power over the ability to terminate a pregnancy people back to the people of each of the US’s 50 states.

Speaking among many leather-bound books and rich mahogany of the Roosevelt Room, Biden was flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Neither flinched as Biden continued after his teleprompter gaffe, saying: “Women are not without electoral and or, politic … or. p. me be precise. Not and or. Or political power. That’s another way of saying, you the women of America can determine the outcome of this issue.”

Originally published as Elon Musk says he will terminate his $US44 billion deal with Twitter