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Elon Musk tried to get a price cut on his $67 billion Twitter deal

It’s the biggest will-they-won’t-they story of the year: Elon Musk and Twitter. And there has been another stunning new development.

Elon Musk ‘set to concede’ to board of Twitter

It’s the biggest will-they-won’t-they story of the year: Elon Musk and Twitter. And there has been another stunning new development.

It was revealed on Wednesday the deal for Musk to buy Twitter was back on, after a tumultuous few months that was set to end in a high-stakes court trial later this month.

And it has now come to light that during those months of back-and-forth, Musk, the world’s richest person, tried to get the price cut on the $US44 billion ($A67.5 billion) deal.

That is according to people familiar with the matter who spoke exclusively to the Wall Street Journal.

It has been reported Elon Musk wanted Twitter at a cheaper price than he originally agreed to. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images North America/AFP
It has been reported Elon Musk wanted Twitter at a cheaper price than he originally agreed to. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images North America/AFP

The New York-based publication reported the informal discussions between Musk and Twitter’s representatives about the price cut happened in a series of conference calls in recent weeks, but the two sides failed to come to an agreement.

It is unknown how much of a discount Musk was hoping for.

The billionaire decided to buy the social media platform for $US44 billion ($A67.5 billion) in April, before announcing he was ditching the deal in July.

Twitter responded by suing the Tesla and SpaceX founder in an effort to force him to complete his takeover of the company.

But Musk has famously argued that Twitter misrepresented the number of bots on its platform.

In a court filing, he accused the company of fraud by concealing serious flaws in its data security.

Elon Musk offering to push through with his buyout of Twitter prompted a surge in the share price of the social network that triggered a suspension of trading. Picture: Olivier Douliery/AFP
Elon Musk offering to push through with his buyout of Twitter prompted a surge in the share price of the social network that triggered a suspension of trading. Picture: Olivier Douliery/AFP

On Tuesday, just weeks out from the trial, Musk offered to close his acquisition of Twitter on the terms he originally agreed to.

In addition to Musk’s attempt to get the company for a cheaper price, it was also revealed on Thursday that firms which earlier expressed interest in helping finance Musk’s buyout had pulled out.

Apollo Global Management Inc and Sixth Street, which intended to provide $1 billion for the deal, are no longer in talks with the billionaire, Reuters reported.

Musk has said he would finance the $44 billion deal with his own cash, co-investors and bank financing.

Read related topics:Elon Musk

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/elon-musk-tried-to-get-a-price-cut-on-his-67-billion-twitter-deal/news-story/809e7b5c7899012b9b3fd4f77900de72