Donald Trump is fighting to take his media company from obscurity and to public markets, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk is constantly getting in the way of that effort by trying to purchase Twitter (TWTR). A series of obstacles have come together just ahead of Tesla CEO Elon Musks filing on Tuesday seeking to buy Twitter under the initial terms that he agreed on, raising questions over whether Donald Trump and other conservatives will flock to it.
The overhanging question, of course, is whether Trump would return to Twitter (TWTR) if invited. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been similarly vague about Trumps plans for True Social, saying so far only that he wants to create an "everything" app with Twitter. In an interview with employees in June, Elon Musk said that he wants to hit one billion daily active users and turn Twitter into a profit.
The way Elon Musk approached his offer to buy him left Wall Street skeptical of his sincerity. Many who followed the case thought that Elon Musk saw the writing on the wall, was likely going to lose in court, and was forced to buy Twitter anyway--wasting even more money and hurting Twitter even further. A steep drop in the stock market soon made $54.20 per share look expensive, and soon after, Elon Musk tried to walk away, saying that Twitter had too many bot accounts and was not being transparent about the problem.
Under the deal, if its debt funding fell through, Elon Musk theoretically could have pulled out of the deal, paying a $1 billion termination fee to Twitter. With courtroom battles over a delayed merger expected to start Oct. 17, Elon Musk proposed on Monday night that his takeover pursuit of Twitter end with him paying $54.20 per share. The clock is now ticking for Elon Musk and Twitter to complete the $44 billion takeover agreement by Oct. 28, or face being forced back into litigation after a judge agreed on Thursday to suspend legal proceedings.