Twitter Inc.’s top lawyer reassured staff Wednesday that the deal to sell the company to billionaire Elon Musk is still progressing, and that a shareholder vote will occur in late July or early August, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company is just waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve its proxy, after which it will be sent to shareholders, Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of legal and policy, said at an employee meeting, the people said.
Musk in recent weeks has been publicly skeptical of Twitter’s user numbers, and the amount that are automated bots, driving uncertainty about whether he will complete the deal. The company has agreed to share its firehose of public tweet data with Musk in an effort to assuage his concerns, according to a person familiar with the situation. The Washington Post earlier reported on the data agreement.
“Twitter has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Mr. Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement. We believe this agreement is in the best interest of all shareholders,” the company said. “We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms.”
Gadde and other executives Wednesday responded to a flurry of employee questions and concerns about the deal. Among them: whether people will be able to continue to work from home, as Twitter has promised would be possible.
Gadde said remote work is not protected by the merger agreement, so there’s no guarantee Musk will continue to allow it, the people said.
—With assistance from Kurt Wagner and Michelle F. Davis.
