TWITTER ON PACE FOR 7-DAY LOSING STREAK

Twitter shares were on pace Monday to decline for a seventh-straight day amid doubts about whether Elon Musk’s $61 billion deal to acquire the social media platform would go through.

Twitter (ticker: TWTR) was down 6.7% to $37.98 on Monday. Unless the stock stages an end-of-day rally, this would the Twitter’s longest losing streak since December, when it also fell for seven consecutive days. The shares have lost 23.5% over this seven-week stretch, their worst decline since March 19, 2020, when the stock lost 29.7%. The Nasdaq Composite was down 4.6% over the same period.

Musk tweeted last week that his acquisition of Twitter was on hold pending details on the number of fake accounts, or bots, that were active on the platform. Twitter has calculated that less than 5% of accounts are fake, but Musk said his team would be conducting a random sample to verify the calculation. Eliminating bots has been a key point for Musk, who said it will help make the platform more valuable.

In a flurry of tweets on Monday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal defended the company’s spam-fighting policies, saying management had shared an overview of the process with Musk a week ago.

“We suspend over half a million spam accounts every day, usually before any of you even see them on Twitter,” he said in a tweet. “We also lock millions of accounts each week that we suspect may be spam – if they can’t pass human verification challenges.”

Musk responded to Agrawal’s thread with a “poop” emoji. The Tesla (TSLA) CEO said last week he was “still committed to [the] acquisition].”

Wall Street still seems to expect that the acquisition will go through, with some speculating it may be a way to renegotiate the price.

“While we believe this review likely delays the acquisition, we would be surprised if there are any material changes to the deal structure as a result of spam/false [daily active users],” wrote Citi analyst Ronald Josey.

Separately, Twitter last week announced it was suspending hiring and would be rescinding some offers. The company also laid off two senior executives.

A new investment fund targeting celebrity-founded consumer brands has secured US$40 million in commitments and is rapidly approaching its US$50 million fundraising target, signalling growing investor appetite for alternative opportunities beyond traditional asset classes.

The Global Talent Fund, which has a maximum raise of US$100 million, focuses on building and investing in consumer businesses alongside celebrities, athletes, and influential personalities who play an active role as co-founders rather than simply endorsing products.

The strategy is based on the belief that changes in consumer behaviour, particularly the rise of social media and digital engagement, have fundamentally altered how brands are built and scaled.

GTF founding partner Jeremy Hunt, who is helping lead the fund’s strategy, said consumers increasingly feel connected to personalities they follow online and are more willing to support products developed by those individuals.

“Consumers are searching for content to engage with, and when a celebrity they like or follow takes them on the journey of creating a product or brand, they genuinely feel part of that process,” he said.

The fund is targeting high-growth consumer sectors including wellness, hydration, beauty and recovery, areas Hunt believes continue to benefit from strong global demand and ongoing innovation.

Rather than backing celebrity endorsement deals, the fund is seeking businesses where talent is deeply involved in product development, brand creation and long-term growth.

According to Hunt, authenticity remains one of the biggest differentiators between successful celebrity-backed brands and those that fail.

“The consumer can see clearly if someone is simply being paid to promote a product,” he said. “The winners are typically the brands where the celebrity has genuinely helped build the business from the ground up.”

The model has attracted support from several prominent Australian investors and business families, reflecting broader interest in alternative investments with global growth potential.

Hunt said consumer brands offered a level of tangibility that many investors found appealing.

“Consumer brands are what we touch, feel, smell and taste every day,” he said. “Our investors understand the growth potential in the model, but they also want to be part of the journey.”

The fund’s rapid progress towards its fundraising target comes amid growing recognition that celebrity influence, when combined with strong commercial execution and scalable business models, can create significant enterprise value.

With several high-profile celebrity-founded businesses generating billion-dollar exits in recent years, supporters of the strategy believe the opportunity remains in its early stages.

TWITTER ON PACE FOR 7-DAY LOSING STREAK

CEO defends its fight against spam.

With US$40 million already committed, the Global Talent Fund is attracting investor attention with a strategy focused on building globally scalable consumer brands alongside high-profile talent.