S&P 39 POINTS AND NASDAQ
UP ABOUT 70.
THERE’S THIS.
ELON MUSK IS LASHING OUT AT
TWITTER AGAIN OVER THE NUMBER OF
FAKE ACCOUNTS ON THE SITE.
LAUREN, HE WANTS A DISCOUNT,
DON’T HE?
LAUREN: ABSOLUTELY SO THIS IS
THE TWITTER EXCHANGE GETTING
SOME BUZZ.
HE SAYS TWITTER STILL REFUSES TO
EXPLAIN HOW THEY CALCULATE THAT
5% OF DAILY USERS ARE FAKE.
SO THEN A USER CHIMES IN AND
SAYS WELL, IF 25% OF THE USERS
ARE BOTS, THEN THE TWITTER
ACQUISITION DEAL SHOULD COST 25%
LESS.
ABSOLUTELY, RESPONDS MUSK, BUT
HE DOES ACKNOWLEDGE THAT
TRANSPARENCY IS NOT IN TWITTER’S
BEST INTEREST BECAUSE IF THEY
REDUCE THEIR KEY METRIC, DAILY
ACTIVE USERS, THAT ADVERTISERS
LIKE, THEN YEAH, THEY BE
WORTHLESS.
IT’S JUST MAKING SENSE TO THEY
AREN’T VERY TRANSPARENT HERE.
STUART: THE STOCK IS AT $37 A
SHARE, HE’S OFFERING 54.20.
LAUREN: HE OVERPAID, IN HIS EYES
STUART: YEAH, HE DID, ALL RIGHT,
VIVEK RAMASWAMY IS WITH US THIS
MORNING AND HE KNOWS A
THING OR TWO ABOUT THIS WHOLE
THING.
VIVEK, DOES THIS DEAL GET DONE
AT A MUCH-LOWER PRICE?
WHAT’S STANDING IN MUSK’S WAY TO
STOP HIM TAKING IT AT A MUCH
LOWER PRICE?
>> SO, LOOK, I CAN GIVE YOU MY
PREDICTION.
I THINK THE DEAL IS GOING TO GET
DONE AT A SLIGHTLY LOWER
PRICE.
THIS ISN’T AN UNCOMMON SITUATION
, STUART, WHERE YOU
HAVE A BUYER THAT ULTIMATELY HAS
SOME LEVEL OF BUYER’S REMORSE.
THERE’S A MAJOR CHANGE IN MARKET
CONDITIONS AS WE SAW HERE, WITH
THE MASSIVE DECLINE IN TECH
STOCKS, SINCE HE SIGNED THE
DEFINITIVE OFFER TO ACQUIRE
THE COMPANY, AT THE SAME TIME,
IF HE REALLY WANTS THIS DEAL I
THINK TWITTER WILL BE ABLE TO
OFFER IT AT ONLY A SLIGHTLY
LOWER PRICE BECAUSE HE HAS A
BINDING CONTRACT IN WHICH HE
WAIVED DETAILS DUE DILIGENCE SO
ARE THE ARGUMENTS ABOUT THE BOTS
THE REASON FOR THE LOWER PRICE
HE’S ASKING FOR OR THE
JUSTIFICATION?
IT’S A JUSTIFICATION.
THAT BEING SAID THIS IS NOT AN
UNCOMMON FACT IN THE LAND OF
M & A, THAT’S WHERE I THINK
HISTORY SUGGESTS TO US THAT
ASSUMING HE STILL WANTS TO OWN
TWITTER WHICH I BELIEVE HE DOES,
I THINK HE’S GOING TO END UP
GETTING IT FOR A SLIGHTLY LOWER
PRICE.
STUART: A SLIGHTLY LOWER PRICE
THAN WHAT IT’S AT 37.82 RIGHT
NOW, LOWER THAN THAT OR WHAT?
>> NO, I MEAN, SLIGHTLY LOWER
PRICE THAN THE PRICE AT WHICH HE
SIGNED THE DEFINITIVE OFFER TO
BUY THE COMPANY.
RIGHT NOW, THEY HAVE A BINDING
CONTRACT WITH DAMAGES ET CETERA
ATTACHED TO IT IN WHICH HE
WAIVED DETAILED DUE DILIGENCE,
SO THAT’S THE PRICE AT WHICH
THIS IS ALREADY CONTRACTED TO
TRANSACT.
I THINK THAT IN LIGHT OF THE
MARKET CONDITIONS, TWITTER’S
BOARD HAS TO LOOK AT THE FACT
THAT LET’S SAY ELON DOES WALK
AWAY IF HE HAS TO PAY $1 BILLION
IN DAMAGES TWITTER COULD HAVE A
LOT MORE DOWNSIDE EVEN THAN THAT
SO EVEN THOUGH THE BOARD WON’T
BE TALKING ABOUT IT THAT’S GOING
TO BE IN THE BACK OF THEIR MINDS
SO THAT’S WHY I PREDICT IT’LL
SETTLE AT A SLIGHTLY LOWER PRICE
THAN 54.20.
STUART: LET’S TALK QUICKLY ABOUT
THIS DISINFORMATION BOARD.
HAS IT BEEN PAUSED, IN OTHER
WORDS COULD IT COME BACK AGAIN
IN THE FUTURE, OR HAS IT JUST
BEEN FINISHED COMPLETELY?
>> IT APPEARS TO BE THEY ARE
GOING FULL FORCE FORWARD WITH
THE PLANS, AND I PREDICTED THIS
STUART A COUPLE WEEKS AGO
WHEN THEY INITIALLY ANNOUNCED
THEIR PLANS TO POTENTIALLY PUT
THIS ON PAUSE.
I THINK IT’S NOT THAT HARD.
LISTEN TO WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE
PRESS SECRETARY SAID.
SHE SAID OUR PLANS WILL STILL
PROCEED.
THE ERROR, I THINK, THEY
REALIZED, WAS DRAWING TOO MUCH
ATTENTION TO IT.
IN FACT, HISTORY TEACHES US THAT
MOST GOVERNMENTS THAT WANT TO
CENSOR THE SPEECH OF THEIR
CITIZENS TEND TO BE PRETTY NON-
TRANSPARENT ABOUT THEIR
EFFORTS TO DO IT.
SO PERHAPS THE BIDEN
ADMINISTRATION LEARNED THEIR
LESSON AND REALIZED THEY
SHOULDN’T HAVE BEEN TALKING
ABOUT IT SO MUCH BUT IT APPEARS
EVEN ON RECENT NEWS REPORTS
SUGGESTING THIS IS JUST GOING TO
PROCEED UNDER DIFFERENT
LEADERSHIP.
STUART: I DON’T KNOW HOW IT
WOULD WORK.
I SIMPLY CAN’T, HAS IT WORKED?
CAN YOU EXPLAIN IT TO ME?
>> WELL IN A CERTAIN SENSE,
STUART, WE’VE BEEN SEEING THIS
INFORMALLY HAPPEN OVER THE
LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
THE GOVERNMENT ISSUES THREATS TO
PRIVATE COMPANIES TO TAKE DOWN
SPEECH THAT THE GOVERNMENT
DISFAVORS.
THE GOVERNMENT INDUCES THOSE
COMPANIES TO BE ABLE TO
TAKE DOWN SPEECH THAT THEY CALL
MISINFORMATION OR HATE SPEECH.
IN FACT JEN PSAKI THE OLD WHITE
HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY, USED TO
BRAG FROM THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS
ER ROOM HOW THE WHITE HOUSE
AND TECH COMPANIES USED TO
COORDINATE ON DECIDING HOW TO
TAKE DOWN CERTAIN KINDS OF
MISINFORMATION.
MY WHOLE VIEW HAS BEEN IF IT IS
STATE ACTION, THEN THE
CONSTITUTION STILL APPLIES,
AND THAT WHEN COMPANIES ARE
PRIVATE ACTORS BEHAVE ON BEHALF
OF THE GOVERNMENT, THEY ARE
BOUND BY THE SAME CONSTRAINTS AS
THE GOVERNMENT SO IN A
CERTAIN SENSE, STUART, THIS IS
NOTHING NEW.
THEY ARE JUST FORMALIZING IT AND
TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
STUART: GOT IT.
A FINE EXPLANATION, VIVEK, AND I
APPRECIATE THAT VERY MUCH SO,