In reversal, Twitter to comply with Elon Musk's demands for data

Twitter plans to comply with Elon Musk’s demand for data on fake accounts, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the company’s thinking.

Twitter’s board now plans to grant Elon Musk access to the massive stream of "firehose" data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted each day, the Washington Post reported citing a person familiar with the company's thinking.

Musk warned Twitter on Monday that he might walk away from his $44 billion deal to acquire the social media company if it fails to provide the data on spam and fake accounts that he seeks. 

The move aims to end a standoff with the billionaire, who has threatened to pull out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter unless the company provides access to data he says is necessary to evaluate the number of fake users on the platform.

The information could be provided as soon as this week, the person said. 

Currently some two dozen companies pay for access to the trove, which comprises not only a real-time record of tweets but the devices they tweet from, as well as information about the accounts that tweet.

Musk has said the deal is on hold until he secures the information, adding to speculation he’s trying to pull out or renegotiate his purchase for a lower price. When he signed his initial deal to buy the company in April, he waived a right to look deeply at Twitter’s finances and internal workings. 

The purchase agreement requires that Musk go through with the deal unless he can show the company misled him or a major event has changed its value.

Twitter’s leaders are sceptical of Musk’s ability to use the data to find previously undetected information: The data stream has been available for years to companies that pay Twitter for the ability to analyse it to find patterns and insights in the daily conversation. 

They, along with some analysts and Silicon Valley insiders, say that Musk is using the data requests as a pretext to wiggle out of the deal or to negotiate a lower price.

Elon Musk’s Twitter bid includes financier linked to Russian tycoon

Bloomberg

Musk’s bid attracted a bevy of big-name backers and Silicon Valley mainstays. There were some notable exceptions. 

High on that list is a Dubai-based investment firm whose assets have surged to more than $5 billion under its secretive founder Alexander Tamas, according to regulatory filings and people familiar with the matter. 

Vy Capital – whose main website consists of one page, with no address and no contact details – has committed $700 million to finance Musk’s bid for the social network, making it the third-biggest outside equity investor in the deal that’s drawn money from billionaire Larry Ellison and Sequoia Capital, securities filings show.

In reversal, Twitter to comply with Elon Musk’s demands for data

Firm’s board plans to grant Musk access to the massive stream of ‘firehose’ data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted each day

AGENCIES

9 June

Twitter plans to comply with Elon Musk’s demand for data on fake accounts, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the company’s thinking.

Twitter’s board now plans to grant Elon Musk access to the massive stream of "firehose" data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted each day, the Washington Post reported citing a person familiar with the company's thinking.

Musk warned Twitter on Monday that he might walk away from his $44 billion deal to acquire the social media company if it fails to provide the data on spam and fake accounts that he seeks. 

The move aims to end a standoff with the billionaire, who has threatened to pull out of his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter unless the company provides access to data he says is necessary to evaluate the number of fake users on the platform.

The information could be provided as soon as this week, the person said. 

Currently some two dozen companies pay for access to the trove, which comprises not only a real-time record of tweets but the devices they tweet from, as well as information about the accounts that tweet.

Musk has said the deal is on hold until he secures the information, adding to speculation he’s trying to pull out or renegotiate his purchase for a lower price. When he signed his initial deal to buy the company in April, he waived a right to look deeply at Twitter’s finances and internal workings. 

The purchase agreement requires that Musk go through with the deal unless he can show the company misled him or a major event has changed its value.

Twitter’s leaders are sceptical of Musk’s ability to use the data to find previously undetected information: The data stream has been available for years to companies that pay Twitter for the ability to analyse it to find patterns and insights in the daily conversation. 

They, along with some analysts and Silicon Valley insiders, say that Musk is using the data requests as a pretext to wiggle out of the deal or to negotiate a lower price.

Elon Musk’s Twitter bid includes financier linked to Russian tycoon

Musk’s bid attracted a bevy of big-name backers and Silicon Valley mainstays. There were some notable exceptions. 

High on that list is a Dubai-based investment firm whose assets have surged to more than $5 billion under its secretive founder Alexander Tamas, according to regulatory filings and people familiar with the matter. 

Vy Capital – whose main website consists of one page, with no address and no contact details – has committed $700 million to finance Musk’s bid for the social network, making it the third-biggest outside equity investor in the deal that’s drawn money from billionaire Larry Ellison and Sequoia Capital, securities filings show (Bloomberg).