CNBC host suggests Elon Musk could end up in jail following broken Twitter deal
CNBC's David Faber said Monday that Elon Musk could end up in jail after the billionaire said he was backing out of the deal to buy Twitter.
CNBC host David Faber suggested on Monday that billionaire Elon Musk could end up in jail after telling Twitter that he was backing out of his deal to buy the social media company.
Faber, while discussing Musk's move during CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Monday, noted that Twitter would likely file a complaint and the case would end up in court in Delaware.
"One would imagine Delaware would be anxious to see the parties in court as soon as possible," he said.
Musk's lawyers sent a letter to Twitter on Friday and alleged that the company "made false and misleading representations" and "breached" the initial agreement multiple times.
Elon Musk walks from the justice center in Wilmington, Del., Monday, July 12, 2021. Musk took to a witness stand Monday to defend his company's 2016 acquisition of a troubled company called SolarCity against a shareholder lawsuit that claims he's to blame for a deal that was rife with conflicts of interest and never delivered the profits he had promised. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
ELON MUSK’S DEAL TO BUY TWITTER IN JEOPARDY: REPORT
Host Jim Cramer said that the "stakes were really high" for the Twitter board.
The billionaire said in May that the deal with Twitter was put on hold, due to "pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users."
He said he was "still committed to acquisition" later that day.
"The company is in a very difficult position here with him attacking them constantly. And now really with their basic business model in question to a certain extent with him saying, you know, we think that it's a far higher percentage of people who are paying for advertising and they're nothing more than bots," Faber said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images) (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Cramer said that a price cut was likely and the hosts agreed that it was unlikely the Twitter board takes the walkaway free.
"They had specific performance in the contract. They are going to have a Delaware judge enforce the contract and say these are the reasons why. Most of the people that you speak with or certainly that I have believe that that in fact will be the case. Then the question is, well okay, you're forcing Mr. Musk to buy the company, does he actually agree to do it?" Farber said, adding that there was speculation that Musk might not comply.
"But then what do we do?" another host asked.
"We can put him in jail," Farber said. "I mean I know you laugh, but-"
Host Carl Quintanilla said, "'cause its funny, the idea of him going to jail."
Cramer said that it was the only enforcement that they had.
"David, the takeaway is going to be, ‘Faber says Musk going to jail, you got about ten seconds to repeal that,’" he joked.
In this photo illustration, the Twitter logo is displayed on a smartphone with Elon Musk's official Twitter profile. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Cramer joked again about Faber's earlier comments suggesting Musk could end up in jail. Faber said his point was that Musk could lose and they might "say yes, you have to buy the company and he will say no."
"Then maybe then they put him in jail," Faber said.
Twitter reportedly hired lawyers to sue Musk over his attempt to terminate the deal, according to a report from Bloomberg on Sunday.
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