Elon Musk Says Twitter Deal 'Cannot Move Forward' Until CEO Proves Fake Account Numbers

Topline Elon Musk doubled down Tuesday and said his $44 billion bid to buy Twitter “cannot move forward” until the company proves that fewer than 5% of accounts on the platform are fake, the latest road bump in a series of difficulties for one of the tech world’s most hotly followed acquisitions. Elon Musk said Twitter must prove its claim on fake accounts. Getty Images Key Facts Musk said his offer to buy the social media company was “based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate” and the company needs to provide more information on the number of fake accounts on the platform. In its filings, Twitter claims fewer than 5% of accounts on the platform are fake or spam accounts. Musk disputes this figure and estimates spam and fake accounts make up 20% of accounts on the platform, four times higher than Twitter’s official number. The real number could be “much” higher than that, Musk added. Musk said Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal “publicly refused to show proof” of Twitter’s claim on Monday, possibly referring to a Twitter thread where the executive rejected Musk’s proposed method to evaluate the number of spam accounts on the platform as flawed. The “deal cannot…
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