Elon Musk has to follow these weird rules now that he's buying Twitter

Elon Musk has to follow some weird yet intriguing rules after finalizing a deal to buy Twitter for a whopping $44bn.

The 'Agreement and Plan of Merger' document between Musk's X Holdings and Twitter (dated April 25) has detailed the conditions both sides have to abide by.

The final takeover is set to take place on October 24.

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Musk is allowed to tweet about the "Merger or the transactions contemplated."

But according to the document, the billionaire cannot "disparage the company or any of its representatives" via tweets.

Earlier this month, he deleted previous tweets that he had written that criticised the social media platform.

Now, if either Twitter or Musk decides to pull out of the deal, they have to pay a $1bn penalty fee.

Although Twitter has been recently banned from seeking out other potential buyers as well as being told to terminate any other negotiations, if a prospect goes to the social network company, Twitter can notify Musk and demand a better offer in just four days.

If the potential buyer outbids Musk, then Twitter has to pay the $1bn termination fee to the world's current richest man.

Elon Musk has to follow these weird rules now that he's buying Twitter (L-R) Getty, Twitter

The termination fee also would be required to be paid by Musk if he neglects to secure the proper funding to close out the deal.

In the case that neither Twitter or Musk haven't met certain conditions, the close date of October 24 can't be extended.

Since Musk's purchase announcement, he has faced backlash from public figures such as Jameela Jamil and Shaun King, as well as Twitter employees.

One Twitter employee even "almost threw up" when they found out the tech billionaire was taking over.

Despite this, neither Musk nor Twitter are at liberty to use public criticism as a reason to pull out of the deal, the document stated.

The parties are also not allowed to walk away based on cyberattacks, a pandemic such as Covid-19, or unexpected regulatory changes.

Elsewhere, the document also emphasised Musk's purchase of the platform as being a merger as opposed to the company being purchased outright.

Twitter is slated to merge with Musk's three separate holding companies, X Holdings I, II and III.

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