5 ms·
Right. But smart people would take a mechanic with them before buying the car. A meaningful audit at Twitter would take months. This is but a stunt.
by manuelabeledo 4y ago
Right. But smart people would take a mechanic with them before buying the car.
A meaningful audit at Twitter would take months. This is but a stunt.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- aliswe 4y agoWould you really show your source code before purchase?
- Moto7451 4y agoThat’s precisely how acquisitions at my current and past company worked. Everyone signs NDAs, there’s a fee paid by the purchaser for the time should they decline the deal, and the audit commences. I’ve been asked to do the evaluation a few times and it’s pretty straightforward. Even if you think the code is of poor quality, it may still make sense to complete the purchase because of the business case.
- dmak 4y agoNot necessarily. It depends on the company acquiring. I've seen M&As focus solely on the relationships (ex, customers), so the tech DD was just checkboxes without deep dives.
- Moto7451 4y agoNot necessarily… what? This is my actual professional experience. I’m sure people just buy things without any due diligence somewhere but I have never seen it. In one case my judgement was that the customer list was all that there was of value. They opted to not buy that company.
- dmak 4y agoI didn't say they skipped DD.
- shaburn 4y agoWere these companies more public and independently well capitalized or cash fires with little bargaining leverage for asset sales?
- Moto7451 4y agoA mix of everything. The deals are always worth millions of dollars.
- manuelabeledo 4y agoIt’s a pretty standard procedure, so yeah. It’s worth mentioning that Musk waived his right to do so.
- mayankkaizen 4y agoI once read about an acquisition attempt by Google which eventually failed because Google found codebase less than impressive. So I guess this is normal to review codebase before a buyout.
- alistairSH 4y agoYes, that’s normal. At least when a PE from is buying. NDAs signed, automated scanners run, consultants sent in, etc.
- hodgesrm 4y agoInspecting the source code is a condition of all deals I've been involved with. Most sensible people want to see what they buying, unless they are under pressure to close fast due to competition. It's a lot like buying a house.
- dastbe 4y agoyes. would you buy a company without reviewing and inspecting its assets? remember you have to tell us if you’re elon musk.
- caminante 4y agoGetting/giving access to the actual code/backend (especially as a competitor!) is a heavily negotiated diligence request. The seller can simply refuse without even giving a reason. ITT: People are throwing around the phrase "audit" liberally. Audit will have a defined (and likely limited) scope and is typically more about compliance, e.g., Do you have the correct number of Microsoft Office licenses per accounting records?
- shaburn 4y agoThis is systematic purge bringing in trusted, independent professionals. He just spared McKinsey ETC fees.
- pessimizer 4y agoYou have to remember that he didn't want to buy the car at all.
- benj111 4y agoHe did want to buy the car, signed a contract to buy the car that decided that he didn't want to buy it because it had a head gasket leak. Even though that was the whole reason he was buying the car, and he doesn't have any evidence for said leak anyway.
- manuelabeledo 4y agoHe went through all the paperwork, got the money, then he didn’t want to buy it.
- hoseja 4y ago... got the money, then found out the previous owner was a chainsmoker and a cadaver is decomposing in the trunk, then for some mysterious reason didn't want to buy it.
- manuelabeledo 4y agoMaybe he should just have opened the door before committing to buy it. He could have, he was in his right, but refused.
- freejazz 4y agoI have to remember? Or does Elon have to remember?
- nemothekid 4y ago>You have to remember that he didn't want to buy the car at all. Huh? Then how did he end up purchasing it?
- Macacity 4y agoHe was almost ordered by a court and decided to do it before the judgement