Twitter Shareholders Vote To Approve Buyout By Elon Musk: What Investors Should Know And What's Next

The latest step in the ongoing Twitter buyout saga was completed Tuesday. Here’s the latest in the battle between social media platform Twitter Inc TWTR and Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk.

What Happened: Twitter shareholders voted to approve a $44 billion buyout from Musk.

The vote is the latest step in a battle between Twitter and Musk to force him to complete his proposed buyout from April that valued Twitter at $54.20 per share.

Musk announced in July he was walking away from the acquisition after realizing the company had inaccurately reported the number of bot accounts it had on its platform.

Twitter later sued to force Musk to complete the acquisition.

Related Link: Hot Take: Twitter Investors Should Buy The Dip Amid Whistleblower Allegations 

What’s Next: A trial between Twitter and Musk is expected to begin on October 17, if a settlement is not reached before the date.

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, who has previously pushed for companies to complete mergers, was selected to preside over the case.

Musk pushed for the trial to be delayed due to new claims from a Twitter whistleblower showing the company was not accurate in its bot account numbers.

The judge rejected the trial delay but allowed Musk to include allegations from the Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko as part of his counterclaim against the company.

“I am convinced that even four weeks’ delay would risk further harm to Twitter,” McCormick said.

Zatko testified before a U.S. Senate panel Tuesday over allegations he made that Twitter did not protect its users, including top officials and celebrities who were on the social media platform.

Some analysts believe the whistleblower could be a big win for Musk's defense. 

Other analysts and investors such as Future Fund founder Gary Black think a deal will be reached between Twitter and Musk prior to the trial ever starting. 

TWTR Price Action: Twitter shares are up 2.17% to $42.37 on Tuesday versus a 52-week range of $31.30 to $68.41.