Twitter: Musk under federal investigation
In a court filing, Twitter says Musk is being investigated by federal authorities over his conduct in his $44 billion takeover deal for the company. The company does not say what the exact focus of the probes is, nor which federal authorities are conducting them. The court filing asks Musk’s attorneys to provide documents that are being withheld, which Musk’s attorney’s say contain ‘privileged’ information. Twitter:
This game of ‘hide the ball’ must end.
An attorney for Musk:
[Twitter’s court filing is a] misdirection. It is Twitter’s executives that are under federal investigation.
Musk: 20,000 bottles of Burnt Hair fragrance sold
Following tweets that announced 5000 and 10,000 bottles of Burnt Hair have been sold, Musk tweets that 20,000 bottles of the fragrance have been sold. At $100 per bottle, the perfume has raised $2 million in sales. Musk announced the perfume in September as a ‘slow burn’ joke, and launched it, through The Boring Company, on October 12.
20,000!
20,000!!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2022
Musk post Starship night photo: ‘This is real’
Musk posts a night image of the newly-stacked Starship, on its launchpad at Boca Chica, Texas, with the caption:
This is real
This is real
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 13, 2022
Burnt Hair fragrance goes on sale
The Boring Company starts selling Musk’s Burnt Hair by Singed fragrance. The fragrance is marketed as ‘Just like leaning over a candle at the dinner table, but without all the hard work’. Musk announced the perfume in September 2022. Musk calls it:
The finest fragrance on Earth!
The finest fragrance on Earth!https://t.co/ohjWxNX5ZC pic.twitter.com/0J1lmREOBS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022
Musk later tweets that 10,000 bottles have been sold.
10,000 bottles of Burnt Hair sold!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 12, 2022
Zuckerberg: Musk Twitter deal ‘unclear’
Zuckerberg says he doesn’t know how Musk’s Twitter deal will turn out:
I don’t know. I think this is another one of these things that it’s really unclear how it’ll actually turn out. I think it’s interesting as a saga, like you’re saying, but I think even at this point, it’s not actually clear what’s going to happen.
SpaceX fully stacks Starship rocket
For the first time in more than six months, SpaceX stacks both stages of Starship, creating the largest and most powerful launch vehicle ever fully assembled. SpaceX has conducted three other full-stack Starship demonstrations: in August 2021 and February and March 2022. This stack includes Super Heavy Booster 7 (B7) and Starship 24 (S24). The stacking is taking place at Starship’s orbital launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas.
After an aborted predawn attempt on October 11th, the Starship was lifted at sunset about 80 meters (250 ft) off the ground, translated over to Booster 7, and lowered on top of the 69-meter-tall (225 ft) first stage. After about two more hours of robotically tweaking their positions, the two Starship stages were secured together.
According to Musk, Booster 7 and Ship 24 will attempt Starship’s first full-stack wet dress rehearsal (WDR) once all is in order, which is a fully loaded countdown up to the point of launch.
Starship 24 and Booster 7 fully stacked on the orbital launch pad at Starbase pic.twitter.com/1VKn6juQor
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 12, 2022
Elon Musk
Musk denies Putin talk
Musk denies he talked to Putin about Ukraine, or on any topic outside of space
No, it is not. I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.
When asked if he would have a talk with Putin about the Ukraine conflict, he says:
Pointless, as there is currently no overlap between Russian and Ukrainian demands – it’s not even close
No, it is not. I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago. The subject matter was space.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022
Report: Musk talked to Putin before Ukraine peace plan tweet
In a mailout to subscribers, Ian Bremner, founder the political risk research and consulting firm Eurasia Group, wrote that Musk told him that Putin was “prepared to negotiate”. but only if Crimea remained Russian; if Ukraine accepted a form of permanent neutrality; and Ukraine recognised Russia’s annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
According to Bremmer, Musk said Putin told him these goals would be accomplished “no matter what”, including the potential of a nuclear strike if Ukraine invaded Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Bremmer wrote that Musk told him that “everything needed to be done to avoid that outcome.”
Bremmer also wrote that Musk said he had refused a Ukrainian request to activate Starlink in Crimea.
Musk spoke to Kanye before Twitter block
Musk says he spoke to Kanye West to express his concerns about the musician’s recent tweet about Jewish people. Kanye’s account was locked just a day after he returned to the platform for the first time in nearly two years.
Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart
Talked to ye today & expressed my concerns about his recent tweet, which I think he took to heart
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 11, 2022
Musk claims Twitter made whistleblower destroy evidence
Musk’s lawyers accuse Twitter’s top two lawyers, Vijaya Gadde and Sean Edgett, and Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran, along with CEO Parag Agrawal, of seeking to cover up the violations of the legal settlements with government regulators by ordering the Twitter whistleblower, Peter Zatko, to destroy 10 handwritten notebooks and deleted 100 computer files.
Twitter’s attempt to buy Mr. Zatko’s silence failed, but Twitter achieved its secondary aim of ensuring Mr. Zatko’s corroborating evidence would never come to light. [The document-destruction order deprived Musk’s legal team of] critical corroborating evidence of Mr. Zatko’s allegations, which would support his account of key meetings and conversations relevant to this case.
China ambassador praises Musk Taiwan proposal
China’s ambassador to the United States responds to Musk’s China-Taiwan peace proposal.
I would like to thank @elonmusk for his call for peace across the Taiwan Strait and his idea about establishing a special administrative zone for Taiwan. Actually, Peaceful reunification and One Country, Two Systems are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question and the best approach to realizing national reunification. Provided that China’s sovereignty, security and development interests are guaranteed, after reunification Taiwan will enjoy a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region, and a vast space for development.
I would like to thank @elonmusk for his call for peace across the Taiwan Strait and his idea about establishing a special administrative zone for Taiwan. Actually, Peaceful reunification and One Country, Two Systems are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question… https://t.co/KYH1Gsu3Um
— Qin Gang 秦刚 (@AmbQinGang) October 8, 2022
Tesla Semi deliveries to Pepsi start Dec 1
Musk says the Tesla Semi truck will start production with deliveries to Pepsi on December 1. He says the Semi has a 500-mile range and is super fun to drive. Pepsi ordered 100 of the all-electric Class 8 trucks in December 2017, a month after it was announced.
500 mile range & super fun to drive
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 6, 2022
Riley: Musk woke up screaming in terror about bankruptcy
Musk’s ex-wife says that came close to a meltdown in 2008 when Tesla was haemorrhaging money and SpaceX had failed three times to launch a rocket into orbit.
He was trying to avoid bankruptcy. Every day Elon would come home and say, ‘That’s it. He was being ridiculed by the press. He would have these night terrors in the middle of the night. We’d be fast asleep and suddenly he would be screaming in his sleep, like he was trying to climb up and escape something. He gave me an out. He said, ‘This is going to be the hard part, you don’t have to stay for it’.
The actress said her ex-husband was vindicated when SpaceX finally became the first private company to launch a rocket into orbit, netting Musk a $1.5bn Nasa contract.
It was the first thing that went right. Elon was at his most joyous, incredible, wonderful. He went from being ridiculed to suddenly, his word was gospel.
Proposes China-Taiwan peace plan
In an interview with The Financial Times, Musk talks about his plan for China-Taiwan relations
My recommendation … would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy. And it’s possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that’s more lenient than Hong Kong.
SpaceX Dragon Capsule docks with ISS
Elon Musk shares a video of the SpaceX Dragon capsule docking with the International Space Station. The docking took place 29 hours after the Falcon 9 spacecraft took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX Crew-5 is the fifth crewed NASA flight, carrying two NASA astronauts, one Japanese astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut. During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct over 200 science experiments.
SpaceX Dragon docking with @Space_Station (extended video) pic.twitter.com/AFBDKHddgI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 7, 2022
Musk-Twitter trial stayed, deal must close Oct 28
Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick agrees to stay the Musk-Twitter trial, giving Musk until 5 pm on Oct. 28 to close the deal. Otherwise, she will set another trial date for next month. The proceedings had been set for Oct. 17. Twitter had argued that Musk should close the deal before the trial date.
This action is stayed until 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, to permit the parties to close on the transaction. If the transaction does not close by 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, the parties are instructed to contact me by email that evening to obtain November 2022 trial dates.
Twitter wants deal closed before trial date
Musk’s attorneys formally ask a judge to stay the trial, which is set to start Oct. 17. The Musk team say a close would be possible on or around Oct. 28. However, Twitter says Musk must close the deal before proceedings start on the 17th. Twitter;
At a minimum…Defendants should be arranging to close on Monday, October 10. But they aren’t. Instead, they refuse to commit to any closing date. They ask for an open ended out, at the expense of Twitter’s stockholders (who are owed $44 billion plus interest), all the while remaining free to change their minds again or to invent new grounds to avoid the contract. Until Defendants commit to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in Court….Defendants can and should close next week. Until they do, this action is not moot [as Musk’s motion insisted] and should be brought to trial.
Musk’s lawyers:
Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation, recklessly putting the deal at risk and gambling with their stockholders’ interests.
Musk tried for Twitter discount
In the weeks before Musk’s bid to own Twitter was back on the table, his representatives asked for a discount of 30%, a proposal that would have valued the company at roughly $31 billion. Twitter rejected the proposal.
In the past week, a discount of 1% was discussed, a valuation of $39.6 billion, but the talks did not move forward. Twitter’s market cap as of Wednesday was $39.2 billion.
Musk said completing the acquisition was dependent on his ability to secure financing from the banks that had agreed to back his April bid, which offered $54.20 per share. If the banks do not follow through, Musk will have to pay a $1 billion breakup fee. He has also asked Twitter to halt its litigation against him.
Musk SEC letter confirming Twitter purchase released
Musk’s letter [link] to the SEC, confirming purchase of Twitter, is released. The purchase is conditional on debt financing and a stay of action of the Twitter-Musk court case.
Gentlemen: On behalf of X Holdings I, Inc., X Holdings II, Inc. and Elon R. Musk (the “Musk Parties”), we write to notify you that the Musk Parties intend to proceed to closing of the transaction contemplated by the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement, on the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein and pending receipt of the proceeds of the debt financing contemplated thereby, provided that the Delaware Chancery Court enter an immediate stay of the action, Twitter vs. Musk, et al. (C.A. No. 202-0613-KSJM) (the “Action”) and adjourn the trial and all other proceedings related thereto pending such closing or further order of the Court.
Musk to buy Twitter at original price, share trading halted
Trading in Twitter shares is halted as the stock spiked following reports that Musk is planning to buy the company for his original offer price of $54.20 per share. The shares had been up by 13% at $47.95 before trading was paused following the news. Twitter and Musk were due to be in court later this month as the company attempted to hold Musk to his original $44bn offer, made in April.
Musk had wanted to back out of the deal over the number of bot accounts on the platform, which he said was above Twitter’s estimate of 5% of users. The takeover deal has already received approval from Twitter shareholders.