One of the entertainment world’s most notable ‘power brokers’ - Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel - has reportedly attempted to mediate a potential settlement between Elon Musk and Twitter Inc. over their disputed $44 billion takeover, Bloomberg reported.
Emanuel, the CEO of Endeavor, an American holding company for talent and media agencies, contacted Twitter board member Egon Durban sometime in the past few weeks and suggested the two sides find a solution, according to sources cited by the outlet. Durban is also a board member at Emanuel's company, added the report.
Durban reportedly notified the Twitter board about the conversation with the agent, but it is unclear if the social media giant responded to the mediation effort or intends to do so. There is similarly no clarity regarding whether Emanuel is operating at the behest of Musk.
Ari Emanuel was previously spotted with Elon Musk on several occasions while yachting or lunching, added the outlet.
Responding to the report, Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross Business School, told Insider:
"Musk and Twitter don't need another emissary to shuttle diplomacy between them. They have bankers and attorneys who have decades of experience mediating legal disputes."
Twitter and Elon Musk are due in court on October 17 after Twitter sued the tech billionaire in July for failing to honor his obligations on the merger agreement he signed in April.
At the time, Elon Musk promised sweeping changes to the site, including purging the platform of bots when he sealed a deal to buy all of the social media company's shares for a total of $44 billion, which would have effectively turned it back into a private company. However, he backed out, alleging that Twitter had deliberately understated its fake and spam accounts. After Twitter sued Musk to enforce the deal, the world’s richest man countersued.