Musk has done it again, ready to buy Twitter for the original price of $44 billion

A securities filing on Tuesday in which billionaire Elon Musk proposed to pursue his original $44 billion bid to take Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) private signals the end of a legal battle that could have forced Musk to pay up.

The deal would put the world's richest person at the helm of one of the most influential media platforms and end months of litigation that damaged Twitter's brand and fed Musk's reputation for erratic behavior. Musk, CEO of electric car maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc, will take the helm of the company he committed to buying in April but soon backed out. Twitter shares rose 22.2% to close at $52.00, while Tesla shares gained 2.9% to $249.44. The news comes ahead of an expected October 17 showdown between Musk and Twitter in Delaware Chancery Court, where the social media company will seek an order directing Musk to complete the $44 billion deal. Musk sent a letter to Twitter on Monday stating that he intends to continue the deal on the original terms if the Delaware judge halts the case. At a hearing on Tuesday morning, the judge asked the two sides to report back in the evening, a source close to Twitter's team told Reuters. It was not immediately clear why Musk gave up his fight. He was about to be deposed, which could have involved tough questioning. "He was about to be deposed and a lot of uncomfortable facts were going to come out," said Eric Talley, a professor at Columbia Law School. A spokesperson told Reuters that Twitter had received Musk's letter and planned to close the deal at the original price of $54.20. Twitter did not say whether it had accepted Musk's offer. Musk, one of Twitter's most prominent users, said in July that he could leave without penalty because the number of bot accounts was much higher than Twitter's estimate of less than 5% of users. Bots are automated accounts, and their use can lead to overestimates of how many people are on the service, which is important for advertising rates and the overall value of the service. Twitter's legal team said on September 27 that documents from two data scientists employed by Musk showed they had estimated the number of fake accounts on the platform at 5.3% and 11%. "None of this analysis supports what Mr. Musk told Twitter and the world in his termination letter," Twitter lawyer Bradley Wilson told the court. Adam Badawi, a law professor at UC Berkeley, said the original deal was "a vendor-friendly deal that was going to be very difficult to get out of." He said Musk realized that he would "most likely be forced to close at $54.20 per share." Since Twitter has received shareholder support for the sale to Musk, the deal could be completed quickly in the coming weeks if the two sides agree on the original terms. In June, Twitter said the waiting period for antitrust clearance had expired and the deal could move forward. Follow Global Economic Developments on Social Media! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Facebook account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Instagram account! Click here to follow Ieconomy official Twitter account!