>>THIS MORNING, A JUDGE WILL HEAR ARGUMENTS IN TWITTER'S
REQUEST TO SPEED ITS LAWSUIT AGAINST ELON MUSK.
>> MUSK IS TRYING TO BACK OUT OF BUYING THE SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT,
SAYING THEY'RE HOLDING THE THE NUMBER OF HUMAN USERS ON THE
PLATFORM VERSUS HOW MANY ARE BOTS.
BUT TWITTER IS SUING TO FORCE MUSK TO COMPLETE THE $44 BILLION
DEAL. JOINING US NOW IS JOURNALIST AND
CONTRIBUTOR TO WIRE.COM, CHRIS STOKER WALKER.
IT IS A COMPELLING READ, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME THIS MORNING,
CHRIS. >> ONE THING I JUST THINK WE
SHOULD FORGET IN ALL OF THIS IS THIS IS AN ARGUMENT AGAINST WHO
IS REAL AND WHO IS NOT, THE USERS.
IN THE MERGER AGREEMENT THAT MUSK SIGNED ON
AND THE SAME FOR TWITTER, THERE IS NO MENTION OF WHO IS REAL AND
WHO IS NOT. THIS IS YET THE GROUND ON WHICH
HE IS TRYING TO PULL OUT. HOW PRECARIOUS LEGALLY DOES THAT
MAKE MUSK'S ARGUMENT HERE? >> I THINK IT'S PRETTY
SIGNATURE. I THINK IT'S NOTABLE, BECAUSE
ANY LAWYER WORTH HIS OR HER SALT WILL PROBABLY BE POINTING TO
THAT AND SAYING ELON MUSK PROBABLY WANTED TO TAKE OVER
TWITTER WAY BACK IN APRIL BECAUSE HE THINKS TWITTER HAS
TOO MUCH OF A PROBLEM. NOW, SUDDENLY, WE GET TO JULY,
AND FAST FORWARD TO THIS POINT AND HE IS TRYING TO BACK OUT
BECAUSE, AGAIN, HE THINKS TWITTER HAS TOO MUCH OF A BOT
PROBLEM. FILING TO THE S.E.C. SAYING 5%
OR FEW ARE ITS ACCOUNT AND TWITTER HAS HELD TO THAT AND
MUSK DISAGREES. BUT SOME OF THE METHODOLOGY HE
IS SUGGESTING TO TRY WHAT IS AND ISN'T IS A SHAKY TO THE
SCIENTISTS I TALK TO. BUT YEAH.
I THINK ULTIMATELY THE WHOLE -- HERE IS A BIT OF A FAST.
>> THE CHANCE FOR DUE DILIGENCE BEFORE SIGNING THAT DEAL.
THE OTHER THING THAT HAS HAPPENED HERE IS THAT SINCE HE
SIGNED THIS DEAL, TWITTER'S STOCK MARKET VALUE HAS DROPPED
ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE STOCK MARKET AS HAS TESLA'S STOCK
VALUE. BY THE WAY, HE WAS GOING TO
BORROW A LOT OF MONEY FROM TESLA TO MAKE THIS PURCHASE HERE.
WHY SHOULD NOT JUST THE PEOPLE AT HOME BUT WHY SHOULD THE COURT
BELIEVE HIS DESIRE TO PULL OUT IS NOT TIED TO THE DROPPING
GRAPHS YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW BUT RATHER TO THE BOT
ISSUE AS HE CLAIMS? >> TRUTHFULLY, I THINK THERE IS
ANY JUSTIFICATION FOR THAT. WE ARE SEEING ELON MUSK'S BEING
CALLED HERE. HE OFFERED TO BUY TWITTER OVER
38% OF WHAT IT WAS TRADING AT THE AT THE BEGINNING OF APRIL
AND WE HAVE SEEN SINCE THEN THE PRICE IS CRATERING.
NOW IT SEEMS DOUBTFUL THAT VALUE WILL EVER BE REQUIRED.
IF WE DON'T LOOK BACK AT THE LAST THREE MONTHS, WHAT ACTUALLY
HAPPENED, YOU KNOW? ELON MUSK KIND OF DRAGGED
TWITTER'S NAME THROUGH THE MUD AND, LIKEWISE, TWITTER FALL BACK
AND SAID ELON MUSK ISN'T A FIT PERSON.
I THINK WE ARE IN THIS TWILIGHT ZONE.
THAT DOESN'T REAL ESLY THINK HEN RUN THE COMPANY.
>> LET'S TAKE THE BILLIONAIRES OUT OF THE EQUATION.
WHAT MATTERS TO MOST OF THE FOLKS HERE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT
WORK THERE. SORT OF AVERAGE FOLKS.
AND YOU'VE BEEN TALKING TO EMPLOYEES AT TWITTER.
YOU TALK HOW THEY SORT OF FEEL LE
LE LEADER-LESS.
WHAT HAS THIS DONE FOR THEIR MORALE?
>> IT'S ON THE FLOOR. TWITTER HAS BEEN FOCUSED
ENTIRELY ON PREPARING ITSELF FOR THIS PURCHASE AND FOR THIS
PURCHASE TO GO THROUGH. SO THERE HAS BEEN A FREEZE ON
HIRING. I SPOKE TO SOMEONE WHO WAS
OFFERED A JOB FROM TWITTER THIS YEAR EARLIER AND HAD THE JOB
OFFER RESCINDED BECAUSE OF THE DEAL.
I TALKED TO CURRENT EMPLOYEES WHO SAY THINGS BASICALLY AREN'T
GETTING DOWN. PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO LEAVE
BECAUSE OF UNHAPPINESS AND SIMPLY THEIR CONTRACTS RUN OUT
AND ULTIMATELY THINGS START TO FALL BY THE WAYSIDE.
THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM HERE.
I'M GOING TO BE REPORTING ON A STORY LATER TODAY WHERE THERE IS
A MORE SIGNIFICANT ISSUE BEYOND MUSK IN TERMS OF MORALE AND PAY
AT TWITTER. >> YEAH.
AND HAS IT POISONED TWITTER FOR OTHER POTENTIAL SUITORS IN THE
BROADER MARKET. CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER, THANK YOU