Elon Musk cannot simply walk away from the deal to buy Twitter and pay a $1 billion breakup payment. This is not an easy task.

Musk posted Friday that he’d decided to tweet put his acquisition of Twitter “on hold”As he investigates the number of spam accounts and fake Twitter accounts, he says it is only 5%. This contradicts what the company claims. Then he followed up with another tweet, reminding that he remains committed to the acquisition.

He could be sued TwitterA breach of contract could result in billions of dollars being lost by the richest man on earth.

Musk might have had a similar reason for placing a transaction in hold. He may want Twitter to reduce its sale price. In the early hours of Friday trading, Twitter shares plunged more than 10%. They are now down 25% from Musk’s $54.20 share purchase price. This dip may be partially due to the general decline in tech stocks over this month. Since April 25th, the Nasdaq fell another 11%. day Twitter accepted Musk’s offer.

Toni Sacconaghi Bernstein senior researcher analyst stated on: “This could be a negotiation tactic by Elon.” CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The market has fallen a lot. As a bargaining tactic, he’s likely using the disguise of active users.

Musk could feel pressure to lower prices from potential investors via Twitter, even though he is not as price-sensitive as the wealthiest man on the planet.

Musk is in talks with outside investorsto decrease his individual stake in Twitter. Outside investors could see higher returns if he is able to get Twitter at a lower price. if and when Twitter returns to publicIt can be resold or taken over by the owner.

Musk said that he was still committed to purchasing Twitter but he may feel tempted to give up on the idea given his paper losses in relation to Twitter. TeslaOwnership of equity. Tesla shares have fallen 24% in the last month.

Musk could consider walking away if his Tesla losses, which are likely to be related to the Twitter acquisition, are greater than both his $1 billion termination fee or any extra damages that he might be held responsible in court.

He would also need to face the negative reputational consequences of breaking a contract. With that record, it’s not clear if any other company will be willing to sell to Musk.

Musk wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Twitter could not get the same deal with Musk as Tiffany and LVMH. It is likely that the company would prefer to avoid a long-running, expensive lawsuit. The company doesn’t have any clear plans for the future so employees may leave. Twitter’s already cutting costs. It fired two employees on Thursday and stated that it is putting off hiring.

The board did not push for an increase in price when Twitter sold itself to Musk at $54.20. in part because there were no other interested buyersThat price. Twitter’s board concluded it wouldn’t soon be able to return to trading at higher prices due to its decline in value relative to peer stocks, such as Facebook Snap.

Twitter may be best served by Musk accepting a lesser offer.

Twitter did not respond to our request for comments immediately.

WATCH: Elon Musk says he’s “still committed” to Twitter acquisition