Elon Musk may try to reprice $44bn Twitter bid, says US short-seller

‘We are supportive of Musk’s efforts to take Twitter private and see a significant chance the deal will close at a lower price,’ said Hindenburg Research. Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

A US firm known for betting against companies’ share prices has said Elon Musk could submit a lower bid for Twitter, owing to a slump in tech stocks and a weak financial performance at the social media platform.

Hindenburg Research said there was a “significant chance” that the Tesla chief executive will seek to pay less than the agreed bid price of $54.20 (£43.90) a share, which values Twitter at $44bn and has been accepted by the company’s board.