With only about two weeks to go before a court case over his attempts to withdraw his US$44 billion (£39 billion) offer to buy Twitter, Elon Musk’s second U-turn over the deal shows the world’s richest man is still full of surprises.
His latest decision to resurrect the offer to acquire the social media platform for US$54.20 per share is not a huge shock – speculation that he would lose the case was rife. But it is surprising that he has decided to reinstate his original price offered last April, rather than attempting to negotiate a lower figure.
If this is another stalling tactic to drive up costs and delay any resolution, reviving shareholder hopes for the acquisition could certainly put pressure on the Twitter board to settle for less just to get the deal done. The more likely reason for this apparent capitulation, however, is that Musk was losing faith in gaining a favourable result from the court case.
