Musk’s cheeky request on Twitter deal

It was revealed on Wednesday the deal for Musk to buy Twitter was back on, after a tumultuous few months that was set to end in a high-stakes court trial later this month.

And it has now come to light that during those months of back-and-forth, Musk, the world’s richest person, tried to get the price cut on the $US44 billion ($A67.5 billion) deal.

That is according to people familiar with the matter who spoke exclusively to the Wall Street Journal.

The New York-based publication reported the informal discussions between Musk and Twitter’s representatives about the price cut happened in a series of conference calls in recent weeks, but the two sides failed to come to an agreement.

It is unknown how much of a discount Musk was hoping for.

The billionaire decided to buy the social media platform for $US44 billion ($A67.5 billion) in April, before announcing he was ditching the deal in July.

Twitter responded by suing the Tesla and SpaceX founder in an effort to force him to complete his takeover of the company.

But Musk has famously argued that Twitter misrepresented the number of bots on its platform.

In a court filing, he accused the company of fraud by concealing serious flaws in its data security.

On Tuesday, just weeks out from the trial, Musk offered to close his acquisition of Twitter on the terms he originally agreed to.

In addition to Musk’s attempt to get the company for a cheaper price, it was also revealed on Thursday that firms which earlier expressed interest in helping finance Musk’s buyout had pulled out.

Apollo Global Management Inc and Sixth Street, which intended to provide $1 billion for the deal, are no longer in talks with the billionaire, Reuters reported.

Musk has said he would finance the $44 billion deal with his own cash, co-investors and bank financing.