Elon Musk said his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter is “temporarily on hold.”
In a tweet posted Friday, the Tesla and SpaceX founder cited spam or fake accounts on the social media platform, pointing to a Reuters report from earlier this month on Twitter estimating less than 5% of its accounts are fake.
“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” wrote Musk.
Shares of Twitter plunged 14% in premarket trading Friday.
Musk’s tweet comes a day after the social media company fired two of its top managers. Twitter said the company is pausing most hiring, except for critical roles, and is “pulling back on non-labor costs to ensure we are being responsible and efficient.”
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Getting rid of spam and fake accounts was one of Musk’s priorities when he reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Musk has also been critical of how Twitter moderates content. The deal is expected to close later this year.
Earlier this week, during an interview with The Financial Times, Musk said if the deal is approved, he would allow former President Donald Trump to return to the platform after he was permanently banned following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.