Twitter board recommends shareholders vote in support of Musk acquisition

Musk terminating Twitter deal Elon Musk has announced that he will abandon his tumultuous US$44 billion offer to buy Twitter.

Twitter's board of directors has unanimously recommended that the social media company's shareholders vote to approve its sale to Elon Musk, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Twitter plans to hold a special shareholder meeting for a vote on the acquisition, one of the final steps needed to close the deal, on an undisclosed date in the coming months.

The board said in the filing that it determined "none of the possible alternatives to the merger," including staying independent or pursuing a different acquirer, were likely to be better for shareholders than the Musk deal.

The board unanimously agreed to sell the company to Musk for US$44 billion in April, after the billionaire Tesla CEO became Twitter's largest shareholder and hinted he might attempt a hostile takeover of the company. Tuesday's filing is the latest indication that the company is moving ahead with the deal as planned, despite doubts created by Musk in recent weeks.

Musk has suggested that he could try to walk away from the deal over his worries about the number of bots and fake accounts on the platform. Musk joined an awkward all-hands meeting with Twitter employees last week during which he took questions and discussed his plans for the company, although he did not explicitly reaffirm his commitment to go through with the deal. He said in an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday that there are "a few unresolved matters" related to the deal, reiterating his concern about bots.

While Musk is the richest person in the world, much of his wealth is tied up in Tesla stock, which has fallen sharply in recent weeks. Much of the tech sector, including social media companies, has also seen shares hit hard amid a broader market downturn.

Twitter stock continues to trade well below the US$54.20 a share Musk offered in April, suggesting investors remain skeptical of the deal going through, or being completed at that price.