I am not a lawyer, let alone a securities lawyer, but from what I have seen over the years, I suspect that if he just backed out but did not renegotiate, or did not do so with a plausibly-acceptable offer, he would likely be sued by Twitter stockholders claiming his actions had done harm to Twitter's valuation - a claim which can at least be made even though the market is falling broadly. If that puts pressure on him to renegotiate, that pressure would seem to strengthen the Twitter board's hand in seeking a considerable premium over whatever the then-current valuation of Twitter will be.
It is not clear to me that the personal cost to Musk would be less than what he initially expected it to be, measured in units of Tesla stock, though I agree it could be less than if he completes the current deal.
As for the spammers thing, Musk waived an extensive due-diligence investigation, and now he is complaining about issues that should have been covered by that investigation.
It is not clear to me that the personal cost to Musk would be less than what he initially expected it to be, measured in units of Tesla stock, though I agree it could be less than if he completes the current deal.
As for the spammers thing, Musk waived an extensive due-diligence investigation, and now he is complaining about issues that should have been covered by that investigation.