A fake Bloomberg story alleging that Twitter was in buyout negotiations with bankers caused Twitter’s stock to spike temporarily Tuesday.
The story, posted at 11:36 a.m. ET, appeared to be from Bloomberg’s legitimate news site and “reported” a potential $31 billion deal.
“The story was fake and appeared on a bogus website that was not affiliated with Bloomberg,” Bloomberg spokesman Ty Trippet told TheWrap.
The fake story spiked Twitter’s stock 8.5 percent in late morning trading before it came back down to normal levels upon revelations the story was a hoax.
It’s currently trading at $36.64. Twitter didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
“Twitter is working closely with bankers after receiving an offer to be bought out for $31 billion, people with knowledge of the situation said,” the now-discredited story claimed. “Shares of Twitter have declined 35% since last reporting earnings and the company has recently become the subject of intense speculation as to its future.”