Twitter trading halted after Elon Musk reportedly proceeds with takeover deal

Trading of Twitter shares halted on Tuesday afternoon after reports emerged that Elon Musk proposed moving forward to buy the company at his original offer of $54.20 per share.

The share price jumped by more than 12 percent on Tuesday after Bloomberg first reported the news, saying Musk notified Twitter of his intentions in a letter.

In April, Musk offered to buy the company in what would be a $44 billion deal, but he had since attempted to back out of the acquisition on multiple occasions, leading to a legal battle with Twitter that is set to go to trial on Oct. 17.

The Hill has reached out to Musk’s attorneys and a Twitter spokesperson for comment.

Musk attempted to walk away from the deal for weeks, arguing Twitter misrepresented how many spam accounts exist on the platform.

His attorneys also tried to back out of the deal over Twitter’s handling of high-profile whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, the social media company’s former security chief who came forward with allegations of widespread security deficiencies. 

Twitter paid Zatko $7.75 million in a separation agreement, and Musk’s attorneys argued the company should have notified Musk beforehand.

Twitter has rejected Musk’s arguments, calling his attempts “invalid and wrongful” and insisting Musk broke the terms of his April offer.

It remains unclear if Twitter would accept Musk’s latest offer.

The Tesla CEO has vowed to make changes to the platform if he takes over the company, including a reversal of former President Trump’s ban and the introduction of an edit feature.