Twitter shareholders approve Musk merger agreement

Twitter shareholders on Tuesday approved a $44 billion merger agreement with Elon Musk, though the deal remains in limbo as a lawsuit between the social media company and the SpaceX CEO moves through a Delaware court.

During the special meeting, the shareholders also approved a measure relating to compensation for Twitter executives resulting from the merger agreement.

After the meeting concluded, an official said more details would be provided publicly in the near future.

A form will also be filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ahead of the meeting, Twitter’s board of directors recommended the shareholders approve the merger and the financial compensation agreement, which the board has already unanimously approved of.

“We are committed to closing the merger on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk,” the board wrote in a letter to shareholders. “Your vote at the special meeting is critical to our ability to complete the merger.”

In July, Musk abandoned his plan to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share and take it private, reneging on an announcement that he made in the spring. Twitter then sued the billionaire in the Delaware Court of Chancery to force him to complete the merger agreement.

A five-day trial in the Delaware court is scheduled to begin next month.

Twitter, which has expressed confidence in winning the lawsuit against Musk, said in the Tuesday letter that the shareholder approval was instrumental to completing the merger and the “only remaining approval or regulatory condition” left in the process.

Musk, who has countersued and pressed for a dismissal of the lawsuit, said he sought to terminate the agreement with Twitter because the company had not been honest about the number of fake and spam accounts on the social media site. 

Twitter has rebuffed that argument in court filings and said they gave the billionaire access to a stream of data about the platform.

Updated at 2:09 p.m.