Experts in corporate acquisitions said in a report that tech billionaire Elon Musk paid a private settlement following claims of sexual misconduct from a flight attendant, on a private jet in 2016 won’t affect Musk’s deal to buy Twitter, says an article published in NBC News.
Payout was contingent
SpaceX paid a flight attendant $250,000 in severance after she alleged Musk sexually assaulted her while she was working, according to the news website Insider.
The reimbursement was conditioned on the accuser not pursuing further legal action, according to the website, which cited documents obtained from a friend of the flight attendant.
Utterly untrue
Musk denied the accusation in a series of posts on Twitter Thursday evening and Friday morning, calling it “utterly untrue” and saying “it never happened.”
He said the Insider report was a “hit piece” designed “to interfere with the Twitter acquisition.”
Unlikely to change mind
Last month, Musk and Twitter’s board of directors agreed to take the company private for $44 billion, with Musk as the majority owner.
According to Bloomberg News, Musk wants to buy Twitter to ensure that it continues to be devoted to free expression, and he proposed changing its regulations to allow any tweets to be displayed as long as they don’t violate local laws.
There aren’t many precedents of misbehaviour charges in previous high-profile corporate agreements, but professors at law and business schools say the alleged complaint against Musk is unlikely to sway anyone engaged in the planned buyout of Twitter.
Unlikely to back out
Professor David Yoffie, who teaches a strategy and technology course at Harvard Business School, believes the claim will have “little or no effect” on Musk’s ambition to buy Twitter.
“Twitter’s board is highly unlikely to change its position, Musk’s equity backers are largely friends who are unlikely to back out, and it is unlikely to affect lenders,” Yoffie said.
Vote the deal down
According to Ann Lipton, a commercial law expert and dean at Tulane University, the claim against Musk may force Twitter shareholders to reject the acquisition in their next vote.
“If the shareholders decide, ‘I’d like my $54.20, but I don’t want to give my precious baby over to Elon Musk,’ then they can vote the deal down, but that would be a striking change from investor behavior historically,” Lipton said.
Did you subscribe to our newsletter?
It’s free! Click here to subscribe!
Source: NBC News
