No data, no deal: Elon Musk warns of junking $44-billion Twitter bid

Elon Musk said he believes Twitter is breaching their merger agreement by not meeting his demands for information about spam and fake accounts, injecting another twist into a takeover saga marked by the billionaire’s serial outbursts. Twitter shares were down about 3.3 per cent mid-morning in New York.

Musk believes Twitter is “actively resisting” and “thwarting his information rights” by refusing to disclose the information, according to an amended securities filing on Monday. Last month, Musk said he wouldn’t proceed with his $44-billion takeover of Twitter unless the social media giant can prove bots make up fewer than 5 per cent of its users, as the company has stated in public filings. Musk has estimated that fake accounts make up at least 20 per cent of all users.