Twitter “will push through the takeover of Elon Musk” despite the billionaire threatening to pull out

TWITTER speaks tough to Elon Musk as billionaire doubts his $44 billion takeover bid.

The firm has said it will “enforce the merger agreement” — the kind of strong words that could be seen as a threat of legal action if it tries to wriggle out.

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It comes as the 50-year-old Tesla founder revealed the deal was “on hold” over concerns about the true number of fake accounts on the social network.

He demands proof of Twitter’s claim that less than 5 percent of users are bots.

Until then, says the richest man in the world, the takeover “cannot go ahead”.

The latest twist in the acquisition story is being viewed as a tactic to acquire the company at a reduced price — or walk away altogether.

If he decides to quit, he’ll have to pay a $1 billion “break-up fee.”

Twitter said: “The board and Mr. Musk agreed on a transaction at $54.20 per share.

“We believe this agreement is in the best interests of all shareholders.

“We intend to complete the transaction and enforce the merger agreement.”

Tensions have escalated in recent weeks, with Musk even tweeting the poop emoji in response to CEO Parag Agrawal defending the company’s bot count.

Agrawal explained how Twitter is trying to fight bots and needs to “ban” millions of accounts.

Musk, meanwhile, believes they’re higher than Twitter’s official figures indicate.

At a technology conference in Miami on Monday, he estimated that at least 20 percent of Twitter’s 229 million accounts are spambots.

Also at the All In Summit, the billionaire gave the strongest hint yet that he wants to pay less for Twitter than his $44 billion offer last month.

He said a viable deal at a lower price isn’t out of the question.

His outbursts lead analysts to believe Musk is either looking to go out of business or trying to fetch a lower price.

His change of heart is believed to have been caused by a huge drop in the value of Tesla stock, some of which he pledged to fund the Twitter acquisition.

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