Elon Musk ends $44bn bid to buy Twitter

Elon Musk is ending his $44bn (£36bn) bid to buy Twitter, alleging multiple breaches of the merger agreement.

The announcement brings to an end a long-running saga after the world’s richest person decided to buy Twitter in April.

Mr Musk said he had backed out because Twitter failed to provide sufficient information on the number of spam and fake accounts.

He faces a $1bn (£830m) break-up fee and possible lawsuit by opting out.

In May, Musk said the deal was “temporarily on hold” as he was awaiting data on the number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter.

The billionaire businessman had asked for evidence to back the company’s assertion that spam bot accounts make up less than 5% of its total users.

In a letter, Mr Musk’s lawyer said Twitter had failed or refused to provide this information.

Shares in Twitter fell by 7% in extended trading after Mr Musk’s announcement.

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