Even as Elon Musk changed the mode for funding the $44-billion Twitter buyout, the micro-blogging site’s investors blocked the re-election of an ally of his to the board at an annual meeting on Wednesday that avoided the biggest question for the social media company: will it complete a $44 billion sale to the billionaire.

Investors voted against Egon Durban, the co-head of private equity firm Silver Lake, who partnered with Tesla CEO Musk on his abandoned bid to take the electric carmaker private.

The rebuke of Durban, who joined the board in 2020, comes as uncertainty looms over the deal, Reuters reported from Dallas and Bengaluru in two dispatches.

Musk tweeted on May 13 that the Twitter deal was “temporarily on hold” while he sought more information about the proportion of fake accounts on Twitter.

The company last week said it remained committed to the deal at the agreed price and on Wednesday said it would not answer questions about the deal at the virtual meeting.

Twitter’s board initially voted to adopt a poison pill that limited Musk’s ability to raise his stake in the company, but later voted unanimously to accept his buyout offer.

The vote could indicate skepticism among shareholders of Musk’s plan or his willingness to pay what he offered, but investors are expected to overwhelmingly approve the deal at another meeting yet to be scheduled.

Some shareholders who filed proposals at the meeting appealed directly to Musk in their presentations.

Investors voted in favor of creating reports on electoral spending and on risks of using concealment clauses, such as non-disclosure agreements, according to preliminary voting results from the meeting.

Shareholders followed management advice to vote against other proposals, including one that would commission a report on company lobbying expenditures.

Musk Pledges Additional Funding in Equity: Meanwhile, Musk on Wednesday pledged an additional $6.25 billion in equity financing to fund the $44-billion offer for Twitter Inc., reducing the billionaire’s margin loan against his Tesla Inc. shares to zero.

The disclosure made in a regulatory filing on Wednesday signaled Musk is working to complete the deal even though he had last week linked its progress to Twitter presenting proof that spam bots accounted for less than five percent of the total users.

While doubting that spam bots accounted for at least 20% of the users, the world’s richest man and Tesla top boss had suggested he could seek a lower price for the social media company.

Musk said on Wednesday he was also in talks with shareholders, including Jack Dorsey, for additional financing commitments to fund the deal. Dorsey is no more a board member of Twitter as he did not stand for re-election.

Musk initially took a $12.5-billion margin loan, but earlier this month reduced it to $6.25 billion after bringing in co-investors. In April, Musk had lined up $46.5 billion in debt and equity financing to buy Twitter, with Musk himself committing $33.5 billion.

Twitter Fined $150mn by US’ FTC: Twitter has faced a big blow as the Federal Trade Commission levied a USD 150 million fine on the microblogging site, alleging that the company illegally used peoples’ data over six years to help sell targeted advertisements.

According to a report filed by ANI, Twitter violated a 2011 FTC order that “explicitly prohibited” the company from misrepresenting its privacy and security practices.

In addition to the USD150 million fine, Twitter is banned from “profiting from its deceptively collected data”, the FTC said.

In August 2022, Twitter disclosed that it expected to face an FTC fine of USD 150 million to USD 250 million related to the allegations. Twitter has agreed to pay the fine.

In a blog post, Twitter chief privacy officer Damien Kieran wrote, “Keeping data secure and respecting privacy is something we take extremely seriously, and we have cooperated with the FTC every step of the way. In reaching this settlement, we have paid a USD 150 M USD penalty, and we have aligned with the agency on operational updates and program enhancements to ensure that people’s personal data remains secure and their privacy protected.”

The fines come at a time when Twitter is in the midst of a USD 44 billion takeover bid by Elon Musk.