Twitter shares plunge after Musk shelves €39bn Twitter deal 'temporarily'

Musk will have to pay a termination fee of $1bn (€870m) if he walks away from the deal.

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, temporarily shelves Twitter deal (Patrick Pleul/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Elon Musk put his $44bn (€39bn) deal for Twitter "temporarily on hold" while he awaits data on the proportion of its fake accounts, sending the shares in the social media platform plunging.

Twitter shares fell 18% to $37.10 (€35.69) in premarket trading, their lowest level since Musk disclosed his stake in the company in early April and subsequently made a "best and final" offer to take it private for $54.20 (€52.14) per share.