*(CNN) — Elon Musk wants to terminate his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter — the latest in a whirlwind process in which he became the company’s biggest shareholder, turned down a board seat, agreed to buy the social media platform and then started raising doubts about going through with the deal.
Musk claimed in a regulatory filing Friday evening that he is ending the deal because Twitter is “in material breach of multiple provisions” of the original agreement, which was signed in April.
Musk has for weeks expressed concerns, without any apparent evidence, that there are a greater number of bots and spam accounts on the platform than Twitter has said publicly. Analysts have speculated that the concerns may be an attempt to create a pretext to get out of a deal he may now see as overpriced.
Musk had agreed to pay Twitter $1 billion were he to walk away, but there were exceptions for “material adverse effects,” which Musk is claiming to have occurred. As such, he’s arguing that he owes Twitter nothing.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a developing story. Check back for more …
The-CNN-Wire
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