Elon Musk warns of dropping $44-bn Twitter deal if data not provided

Elon Musk warned he may walk away from his $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter Inc if the social media network fails to provide data on spam and fake accounts, the billionaire said in a letter to the company on Monday.

The letter said Twitter was in a “clear material breach” of its obligations and that Musk reserves all rights to terminate the merger agreement. Earlier in March, Musk said he would put the deal “temporarily on hold”, while he waits for the social media company to provide data on the proportion of its fake accounts.

“Musk believes Twitter is transparently refusing to comply with its obligations under the merger agreement, which is causing further suspicion that the company is withholding the requested data due to concern for what Musk’s own analysis of that data will uncover,” according to the letter.

“Musk believes the company is actively resisting and thwarting his information rights,” the letter by Musk’s lawyers said.

Twitter shares were down 5.5% at $37.95 in premarket trading.