Parag Agrawal

Elon Musk says his deal to buy Twitter can’t proceed until the company proves that fake and spam accounts make up less than five percent of the platform’s users.

Musk says these accounts could represent at least 20 percent of users.

20% fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be *much* higher.

My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate.

Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%.

This deal cannot move forward until he does.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2022

“My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate. Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%. This deal cannot move forward until he does,” Musk tweeted in the early hours of May 17th.

The billionaire is referencing pushback he received from Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal the day prior. He said Musk’s method to measure the fake and spam accounts couldn’t be completed in a lengthy thread. Musk responded with an emoji to one of Agrawal’s tweets.

“There are LOTS of details that are very important underneath this high-level description. We shared an overview of the estimation process with Elon a week ago and look forward to continuing the conversation with him, and all of you,” Agrawal tweeted on May 16th.

💩

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2022

As The Verge reports, people have speculated that Musk is casting doubts on the number of bots to negotiate a lower buying price. The deal is currently worth $44 billion (about $56.4 billion CAD).

Source: Twitter via The Verge

Jack Dorsey is stepping away from Twitter.

The former CEO shared a screenshot of his resignation email on Twitter after numerous media reports detailed his departure.

He wrote he wants the company to work separately from its founders. While many find it important for companies to be led by their founders, Dorsey said this was “severely limiting and a single point of failure.”

Former CTO Parag Agrawal is the company’s new CEO. He started with the Twitter as an engineer.

Dorsey notes Agrawal was appointed after a “rigorous process” from Twitter’s board and said he was his first choice and was behind decisions that helped the company succeed. “My trust in him as our CEO is bone deep.”

Bret Taylor will serve as the chair of the board. The “ambition and potential” of the team made leaving now a good time.

Dorsey has worked at Twitter for the past 16 years and has filled numerous roles including CEO and executive chair. He will continue to serve on the board until May.

“I want you all to know that this was my decision and I own it. It was a tough one for me, of course,” he wrote in conclusion. “There aren’t many companies that get to this level. And there aren’t many founders that choose their company over their own ego. I know we’ll prove this was the right move.”

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