ELON MUSK IS abandoning his legal battle to back out of buying Twitter by offering to go through with his original $44 billion bid for the social media platform.

The Tesla CEO made the offer in a letter to Twitter, which the company disclosed in a filing on Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The offer comes just two weeks before Twitter’s lawsuit seeking to force Musk to go through with the deal goes to trial in Delaware Chancery Court.

In a statement, Twitter said it intends to close the transaction at $54.20 per share after receiving the letter from Musk.

Trading in Twitter’s stock, which had been halted for much of the day pending release of the news, resumed trading late on Tuesday and soared almost 22% to 51.80 dollars.

Musk’s proposal is the latest twist in a high-profile saga involving the world’s richest man and one of the most influential social media platforms.

Twitter issued this statement about today's news: We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share.

— Twitter Investor Relations (@TwitterIR) October 4, 2022

Much of the drama has played out on Twitter itself, with Musk — who has more than 100 million followers — lamenting that the company was failing to live up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

A letter from Musk’s lawyer dated on Monday and disclosed by Twitter in a securities filing said Musk would close the merger signed in April provided that the Delaware Chancery Court “enter an immediate stay” of Twitter’s lawsuit against him and adjourn the trial scheduled to begin in two weeks.

The latest twist in the ongoing saga comes less than two weeks before the start of a high-stakes trial in a suit by the tech firm to hold the Tesla chief to a $44 billion buyout deal he signed in April.

Musk himself has been slated to be deposed by Twitter attorneys later this week in preparation for a trial.

A serial entrepreneur made rich through his success with Tesla, Musk originally sealed a deal to acquire the social media company in April, but soon after began to step back from the transaction.

Currently the world’s richest man, he said in a letter in July that he was canceling the deal because he was misled by Twitter concerning the number of bot accounts on its platform, allegations rejected by the company.

After he sent a letter to the social media company’s board, Twitter sued Musk in an effort to hold him “accountable to his contractual obligations”.

The billionaire countersued a few weeks later, alleging the social media platform misled him about key aspects of its business before he agreed to the buyout.

Twitter had been seeking material or testimony to prove Musk is contriving excuses to walk away because he changed his mind. In July, a Delaware judge agreed to a fast-track a trial on Twitter’s allegations, which the company has argued is impeding its financial performance.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said that Musk’s apparent pivot shows that he recognised heading into Delaware Court that the chance of winning against Twitter’s board was highly unlikely, and this $44 billion deal was going to be completed one way or another,” he said in an email.

“We see minimal regulatory risk in this deal although now Musk owning the Twitter platform will cause a firestorm of worries and questions looking ahead among users and the Beltway. This is a smart move for Musk to go ahead with the deal given the legal hurdles that were ahead into Delaware.”

Musk has previously described his motivation to buy Twitter as stemming from a desire to ensure freedom of speech on the platform and to boost monetization of an Internet site that is influential in media and political circles but has struggled to attain profitable growth.

Musk said he favored lifting the ban on Donald Trump, who was kicked off the platform in January 2021 shortly after the former US president’s efforts to overturn his election defeat led to the 6 January assault on the US Capitol.

© AFP 2022, additional reporting from the Press Association