Elon Musk says he's willing to buy Twitter after all, possibly averting a trial

Elon Musk now wants to go through with his original offer to buy Twitter for the previously agreed upon price of $54.20 per share, a source close to the deal tells NPR.

The billionaire Tesla CEO sent a letter to Twitter Monday night, the person said, which could put an end to the knock-down, drag-out legal fight over the merger that he tried to abandon in July.

The news, first reported by Bloomberg, sent shares of the struggling social media company soaring 13 percent before the NASDAQ halted trading.

Musk had agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion in May, but then tried to back out of the deal after the company's value sank. Twitter sued to force Musk to abide by the deal. A trial is scheduled to begin in less than two weeks.

The about-face could bring an end to a tumultuous, high-stakes drama over whether one of Twitter's most high profile users will own the company.

Representatives for Musk and Twitter didn't respond to requests for comment. [Copyright 2022 NPR]