Elon Musk says buying Twitter will help create X, the app for everything

Elon Musk renewed his offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX extended the offer in a letter filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The renewed bid is the latest twist in an ongoing saga involving the outspoken, eccentric billionaire and the social media platform. The renewed offer comes with conditions. First, Musk needs to get debt financing to make the deal happen. Second, the letter said the deal would only move forward if a Delaware court dismissed all legal proceedings related to Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk.

The social media site is suing Musk, claiming it cannot renege on its commitment to acquire the company. The trial is due to begin later this month.

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In a statement emailed to ZDNET, a Twitter spokesperson said the company had received the letter.

“The Company’s intention is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share,” the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday afternoon, Musk tweeted that “buying Twitter is an accelerator to create X, the app for everything.” Musk has said creation of application ‘X’. in the past.

Previously, Musk pitched the idea of ​​a broad-based X app like WeChat, spanning from social media to chat, video games and payments.

Twitter has been in a state of turmoil since April, when Musk first said he wanted to buy the social media platform. It raised $46.5 billion in financing to back its unsolicited bid, relying on loans and $33.5 billion in equity. When the deal materialized, some of Twitter’s top executives were pushed out of the company and others resigned.

However, Musk quickly began suggesting that the deal was “on hold,” complaining about the number of fake accounts on the Twitter platform. Then in July, Musk said he was pulling out of the deal.

Twitter’s board quickly responded that it was prepared to take legal action to ensure the deal closed at a price of $54.20 per share. As promised, Twitter filed a lawsuit against the Tesla CEO.

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Then last month, Twitter shareholders officially approved Musk’s $44 billion takeover deal.

Meanwhile, Twitter’s former chief security officer, Peter “Mudge” Zatko, testifies before a US Senate committee in September on the social media platform’s security vulnerabilities. Earlier this year, Zatko filed a whistleblowing complaint alleging that Twitter’s physical and digital security systems for protecting user privacy and moderating content suffered extreme flaws. Musk subsequently submitted another letter to the SEC to argue that the deal should be terminated, alleging that Twitter’s $7.75 million compensation to Zatko violates the terms of the acquisition deal.

Today — a day after Musk renewed his takeover bid — one judge agreed that Twitter may proceed with an investigation to determine whether Zatko communicated with Musk’s lawyers before the billionaire backed out of the Twitter deal.