Bot? 🤖 Or Not?

Elon Musk rips into Donald Trump in a series of scathing tweets: “I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset” https://t.co/LOwwuKEVGr

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 12, 2022

Elon Musk has eroded trust in Twitter, walloped employee morale, spooked potential advertisers, emphasized its financial difficulties and spread misinformation about how the company operates. https://t.co/UUa2GiiTZH pic.twitter.com/6PdTv0I1PW

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 12, 2022

So Elmo is Donald Trump; but he’s actually rich.

Welcome to today’s very special episode of “Spot the extreme, thin-skinned narcissist who has no respect for the law or the rights of others.” https://t.co/n9ybGtZLt1

— George Conway🌻 (@gtconway3d) July 12, 2022

Other than the money, not a groat’s worth of difference.

"Musk apparently believes that he—unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law—is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away."@Twitter's complaint in Delaware Chancery Court

— j.d. durkin (@jd_durkin) July 13, 2022

And any number of ill-informed pundits speculated Twitter would either not sue Musk, or settle early.  No doubt Twitter will have good reasons to settle; that almost goes without saying.  But unless Musk can mount a valid affirmative defense that Twitter lied about the number of bots on the site (right now I don't think he can, but who can say?), Twitter at least has the $1 billion default penalty clause (and I remind the audience again it was that precise amount in a similiar clause to rocketed T-Mobile from nearly extinct to powerhouse when the FCC disallowed the T-Mobile/ATT merger a few years ago).  That ain't peanuts.

And there's this perfectly reasonable analysis on a settlement:

My prediction on Twitter is private equity funds will now bid for the company in the $25-30/share range - that is what it is worth. That will also lock in the damages the company can seek against Elon Musk’s $54.20/share bid. The co will settle, but Musk will pay billions.

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) July 9, 2022

A settlement would hardly mean Elmo won.  He certainly seems to think his money makes him invisible and bulletproof.  Will be very interesting to find out if he's right.

Elon Musk Tries To Back Out Of Twitter Deal By Deleting App From Phone https://t.co/3Y6IJqxxn8 pic.twitter.com/WYL5yicKzJ

— The Onion (@TheOnion) July 12, 2022