Before the New York Stock Exchange opened for business today, Friday, the share price of the social networking site Twitter fell by 16% amid reports of discussions within US President Joe Biden’s administration about subjecting some billionaire Elon Musk to a review of US national security, including the acquisition on Twitter of The Speed X satellite system, which is owned by Musk.
US officials are worried about Elon Musk’s recent threats to stop providing Internet services to Ukraine through the Starlink system, which he claims have cost him $80 million so far, according to informed sources cited by Bloomberg news agency. They are also concerned about what they described as Musk’s increasingly pro-Russian stance, which is that he recently made a framework for peace proposals in Ukraine through a series of tweets on Twitter.
Mask’s intentions to purchase Twitter in cooperation with a group of foreign investors have also alarmed US officials.
The sources pointed out that these consultations are still in their early stages, and that officials of the American administration and intelligence departments are studying the tools available to them, which allow the federal government to review Musk’s business.
The sources stated that among the possibilities raised is the relying on the law that governs the foreign investment committee in the United States in order to review the deals and associate work to ensure whether it involves any threats to American national security.
This committee will examine foreign parties’ acquisition agreements with American businesses.
The sources did point out that it is unclear whether the committee’s authority will give the American government a formal way to examine the Mask’s operations.
In a related vein, there have been numerous rumours that Musk plans to downsize Twitter’s employees as part of the acquisition agreement.
According to a report published on Thursday by The Washington Post, Mask aims to reduce the company’s workforce by 75% over the next few months.
According to Bloomberg, as part of the initiatives to double Twitter revenues within three years, investors who are likely to participate in the acquisition were notified about the derived jobs.
In response to reports that a mask was forced to review “National Security,” Twitter shares fell 16%.
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