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Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, again says he wants to buy the social media company Twitter.
世界首富埃隆·马斯克再次表示，他想收购社交媒体公司推特。
Last April, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
去年4月，马斯克提出以440亿美元收购推特。
Musk said at the time that his goal was to shape the service into a place for free speech.
马斯克当时表示，他的目标是将该服务平台塑造成一个言论自由的地方。
Three months later, Musk withdrew his offer saying Twitter did not provide him with enough information about the number of false, or fake, accounts.
三个月后，马斯克撤销了他的报价，称推特没有向他提供关于虚假账户数量的足够信息。
The agreement to buy Twitter requires Musk to pay the company $1 billion if he does not complete the deal.
根据收购推特的协议要求，如果马斯克不能完成交易，他将向该公司支付10亿美元。
Twitter, however, opened a legal action, or lawsuit, to force Musk to close the deal.
然而，推特提起了诉讼，以迫使马斯克完成交易。
This week, Musk told Twitter in a letter that he wanted to do the deal as they had agreed to in April.
本周，马斯克在一封信中告诉推特，他希望按照他们在4月份达成的协议完成这笔交易。
He also asked for an end to the legal action that will start in less than two weeks in the state of Delaware.
他还要求其结束将在不到两周后在特拉华州开始的法律行动。
Twitter answered that it plans to close the deal at $54.20 per share after receiving Musk’s letter.
推特在收到马斯克的信后回应称，其计划以每股54.20美元的价格完成这笔交易。
The social media company did not say whether it would end the lawsuit against Musk.
这家社交媒体公司没有表示其是否会结束对马斯克提起的诉讼。
Andrew Jennings is a professor at Brooklyn Law School.
安德鲁·詹宁斯是布鲁克林法学院的教授。
He told the Associated Press, “I don’t think Twitter will give up its trial date on just Musk’s word — it’s going to need more certainty about closing.”
他告诉美联社：“我认为推特不会仅仅因为马斯克的话就放弃审判日期——它需要更加确定是否能够结束交易。”
Jennings noted that Twitter may also be worried that Musk may be acting simply to delay the legal action.
詹宁斯指出，推特也可能担心马斯克采取行动的目的可能只是拖延法律行动。
Musk has sought, and failed, to postpone the process two times earlier.
马斯克此前曾两次试图推迟这一进程，但均以失败告终。
Musk says Twitter misrepresented how it measures false accounts on its site.
马斯克表示，推特没有如实说明它是如何衡量其网站上的虚假账户的。
In July, Musk argued that he could end the deal without penalty because the number of false accounts was much higher than Twitter's estimate of less than 5 percent of users.
今年7月，马斯克表示，他可以在不受处罚的情况下结束交易，因为虚假账户的数量远远高于推特估计的不到用户数量的5%。
The number of active accounts is important for advertising rates and the overall value of the service.
活跃账户的数量对广告费率和该服务平台的整体价值很重要。
But Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the Delaware court’s head judge, appeared set to center the case on the deal between Musk and Twitter and possible changes that could end it since the deal was signed in April.
但特拉华州法院首席大法官凯瑟琳·麦考密克似乎准备把该案件的重点放在马斯克和推特之间的协议上，以及自4月份该协议签署以来可能导致这笔交易终止的变化。
In the same month, a former chief of security at Twitter took legal action against the company.
同月，推特的一名前安全主管对该公司采取了法律行动。
Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, accused the company of lying about its efforts to control false accounts and strengthen its cyber defenses.
佩特·扎特科指控该公司在控制虚假账户和加强网络防御方面的举措上撒谎。
It was not immediately clear why Musk chose to drop the fight in court.
目前尚不清楚马斯克为什么选择放弃在法庭上进行争辩。
But Eric Talley, a law professor at Columbia University said he was not surprised by Musk’s decision.
但哥伦比亚大学法学教授埃里克·塔利表示，他对马斯克的决定并不感到惊讶。
He said, “On the legal merits, his case didn’t look that strong.”
他说，“从法律角度来看，他的案子看起来没那么难以辩驳。”
Musk is to make a sworn statement in court on Thursday.
马斯克将于周四在法庭上发表宣誓声明。
And Talley added, “a lot of uncomfortable facts were going to come out.”
塔利还说，“很多令人不安的事实会浮出水面。”
The Tesla and SpaceX founder also faces possible rising costs.
这位特斯拉和太空探索技术公司的创始人还可能面临费用上升的问题。
If he lost the trial, the judge could not only force him to close the deal but also could order interest payments that would increase its cost.
如果他输掉了庭审，法官不仅可以迫使他完成交易，还可以下令要求其支付利息，这将会增加交易费用。
Musk and his representatives have not answered questions from news organizations about the latest offer to close the Twitter deal.
马斯克和他的代表还没有回答新闻机构提出的有关达成推特交易的最新报价的问题。
A user of Twitter, Musk wrote on the social media website last night: “Buying Twitter is an accelerant to creating X, the everything app.”
作为推特的一名用户，马斯克昨晚在该社交媒体网站上写道：“收购推特是创造万能应用X的助推剂。”
He did not provide any more details.
他没有提供更多细节。
I'm Andrew Smith.
安德鲁·史密斯为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
