Elon Musk‘s fickle love affair with buying the social media website Twitter has gone through many ups and downs this past year, but one burning question remains: is he trying to buy the website known for its bite-sized posts or not?
Despite Musk being quite known for making such huge financial investment decisions on Twitter itself, this latest development was announced via a more old-school medium: an old-fashioned letter. After Musk made an initial bid to buy the platform, then backtracked on that purchase earlier this year which spurred a lawsuit, the billionaire has filed a letter to Twitter with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday once again offering to buy the social media site for the original price of $44 billion, Associated Press reports.
This all comes less than two weeks prior to a trial between Musk and the social media company scheduled to take place in Delaware, with Twitter saying in a statement (via CNN): “The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share.”
The trial in question revolved around a lawsuit from Twitter based on Musk attempting to terminate the original $44 billion acquisition.
It is still unclear if the trial will actually proceed or if Twitter will cease trying to sue Musk since he’s now following through on his initial deal. However, Dan Ives, a financial analyst for Wedbush Securities, told CBS News he believes the reversal from Musk is undoubtedly an attempt to avoid the legal headaches associated with going to trial.
“This is a clear sign that Musk recognized heading into Delaware Court that the chances of winning vs. Twitter board was highly unlikely and this $44 billion deal was going to be completed one way or another,” Ives said.
The Twitter v Musk trial is scheduled to take place in Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 17.