TEXTS: Musk pulled out of deal over World War 3 fears...
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'SLOW DOWN'
Elon Musk’s private texts reveal Tesla CEO pulled back from Twitter deal after World War 3 fears as legal battle rages
12:03 ET, Sep 7 2022
Updated: 14:48 ET, Sep 7 2022
ELON Musk's private texts reveal the tech tycoon got cold feet and wanted to "slow down" his Twitter deal after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked fears of World War III.
The confidential messages between Musk and his banker came to light during a hearing on Tuesday as the Tesla CEO attempted to push back the trial dates start.
Elon Musk's text exchange with his banker revealed the tech tycoon wanted to 'slow down' his Twitter deal amid World War III fears, Credit: AP
The texts were exchanged between Elon Musk and Michael Grimes, head of global technology investment banking at Morgan Stanley, Credit: Getty
The texts were exchanged between Musk and a banker at Morgan Stanley, who is financing part of the Space X founder's deal, on May 8 - a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech for the 77th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
"Let's slow down just a few days," Twitter's lawyer said, reading Musk's texts during the hearing.
"Putin's speech tomorrow is really important. It won't make sense to buy Twitter if we're heading into World War 3."
Twitter's lawyers referred to the last sentence in court as the "money quotation" and claimed Musk's only motivation for trying to get out of the deal was personal financial concerns.
Musk's attorney Alex Spiro blasted the description of the texts in court, calling it "utter nonsense," and asked to disclose the full-text chain exchange, which is expected to be filed on the court docket next week.
They also argued that Twitter hadn't found any evidence to support its theory that he dropped the deal over economic concerns.
"Their theory about what really happened isn't what really happened," Spiro said.
In April, Musk and Twitter agreed to a deal for the tech mogul to buy the social media platform for a staggering $44 billion.
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