Report: Musk proposes to proceed with Twitter takeover

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has proposed a peace plan for Ukraine that would involve holding repeat votes under the U.N. auspices in Russia-occupied regions, triggering a showdown with Ukrainian Twitter users who have rejected his proposals in a stream of furious comments. (Patrick Pleul/Pool via AP, File)

Trading in shares of Twitter were halted after the stock spiked on reports that Elon Musk would proceed with his $44 billion deal to buy the company after months of legal battles.

The news, based on anonymous sources, was first reported by Bloomberg News.

Musk offered to buy the San Francisco company at $54.20. Shares jumped nearly 13% to $47.95 before trading stopped.

According to the report Tuesday, Musk sent a letter to Twitter offering to complete the deal, which already has shareholder approval, at the original price.

Twitter did not immediately respond to messages for comment on Tuesday.

The trial seeking to compel Musk to buy Twitter is set to start in Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 17.

Musk’s argument for winning the case — and thus walking away from the deal — has largely rested on his allegation that Twitter misrepresented how it measures the magnitude of “spam bot” accounts that are useless to advertisers. But most legal experts believed he faced an uphill battle in convincing Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the court’s head judge, that something changed since the April merger agreement that justifies terminating the deal.