Why is Elon Musk under investigation over Twitter deal? Net worth and is he pulling internet in Ukraine

Elon Musk is under federal investigation following his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter according to unsealed court documents released by the social media giant.

Musk announced he bought the social media company in April 2022, before declaring he was pulling out citing disagreement over the number of spam accounts. Twitter sued the SpaceX CEO in July 2022 to force him to close the deal and it has now been alleged that Musks’ attorneys claimed “investigative privilege” when refusing to hand over documents.

The richest person in the world has also been making headlines after he hinted he was stopping the Starlink internet in Ukraine. In letters from SpaceX leaked by CNN, the company ask the US Government to help them foot the bill.

So why is Elon Musk being investigated for his deal with Twitter and what has he said about Starlink internet in Ukraine? Here’s everything you need to know.

Is Elon Musk buying Twitter?

Musk announced in April 2022 that he was buying the social media platform Twitter, however by July he said he was pulling out of the deal due to disagreement over the number of spam accounts.

Twitter took Musk to court in July to hold him accountable for their purchase agreement. The subsequent trial saw the Tesla CEO again agree to buy the company at the price previously agreed on 3 October. So, as of now, Musk is set to become the owner of the social media platform.

Why is Elon Musk under investigation over Twitter deal?

Court documents from the trial were unsealed on 13 October and revealed that Musk is being investigated by the federal government.

Reported by People, lawyers representing Twitter said: “Elon Musk is presently under investigation by federal authorities for his conduct in connection with the acquisition of Twitter.”

They added, “Through counsel, he has exchanged substantive correspondence with those authorities concerning their investigations. Twitter wants those documents, because they bear upon key issues in this litigation.”

However, in a statement to People, Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro said: “Twitter’s executives are under federal investigation. This misdirection was sent by Twitter to try and uncover which of their assorted misconduct they are under investigation for.”

Is Elon Musk pulling Starlink internet in Ukraine?

Musk has suggested that SpaceX will be pulling Starlink internet out of Ukraine. The internet service was set up in February 2022 after the Russian invasion and helped provide vital communication support to Ukraine’s military.

In leaked letters to the US Government reported by CNN, SpaceX’s director of government sales said: “We are not in a position to further donate terminals to Ukraine, or fund the existing terminals for an indefinite period of time.”

Adding: “SpaceX faces terribly difficult decisions here. I do not think they have the financial ability to provide any additional terminals or service as requested by General [Valerii] Zaluzhniy [Ukraine’s commanding general].”

Musk took to Twitter, where his comments seemed to confirm the report, he tweeted: “nothing was leaked about our competitors in space launch & communications, Lockheed & Boeing, who get over $60B [from the US Department of Defence]”.

Adding in another post: “In addition to terminals, we have to create, launch, maintain & replenish satellites & ground stations & pay telcos for access to Internet via gateways. We’ve also had to defend against cyber-attacks & jamming, which are getting harder. Burn is approaching ~$20M/month.”