Financial TimesFinancial Times

Musk suggested delaying Twitter deal over ‘world war three’ concerns

By Sujeet Indap, Hannah Murphy

06 Sep 2022 · 2 min read

Editor's Note

The latest curveball in the Musk v Twitter case is Musk's fear of World War III. Twitter has questioned the timing of its former security chief accusing the platform of poor cybersecurity practices.

Elon Musk suggested delaying his $44bn takeover of Twitter on the grounds that it “wouldn’t make sense to buy Twitter if we’re heading into world war three”, according to texts between the billionaire entrepreneur and his bankers revealed in a court hearing.

During a three-hour session in a Delaware Chancery court on Tuesday, the social media company shared a message exchange between Musk and Morgan Stanley banker Michael Grimes, as it sought to argue that the billionaire’s continued attempts to back out of the deal citing concerns over bots were “all pretext”.

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