A tweet from New York Times correspondent, Kate Conger, portrays a picture of Twitter’s lawsuit against Tesla and SpaceX CEO billionaire, Elon Musk, claiming that he has “refused to honour his obligations” as the Twitter-takeover “deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests,” as reported by Express.
Here we go: Twitter sues Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/Rz20U8YsdB
— kate conger (@kateconger) July 12, 2022
The legal battle ensues following a dispute between the two parties after the initial deal to purchase Twitter was reached on 25 April 2022, with Musk offering to purchase the entirety of their shares at $54.20 each.
In the dispute, Musk accused Twitter of deceiving him regarding the number of bots and spam accounts present on the social media platform, but without offering any form of evidence. In his initial negotiation with the platform, it was stated that the prevalence of these accounts stood at approximately 5% of total accounts.
Twitter rebutted that they are “confident” in the validity and reliability of the given figures, according to the New York Times.
Also read: Elon Musk puts his R690 billion Twitter purchase on ice
According to NPR, Twitter filed a lawsuit in Delaware on Tuesday in an attempt to try and force him to abide by the agreement. Twitter accuses Musk of hypocrisy and bad faith in breaching his contract with the platform.
It claims that Musk is using pretexts – including his bots accusation – as a means of halting the acquisition after a stock market plummet had affected his wealth, despite being under a legally binding contract.
“Now, less than three months later, [he] refuses to honour his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders,” wrote attorney William Sayitt and other lawyers representing the social media platform.
“Musk apparently believes that he – unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law – is free to change his ming, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.”
The social media platform adds that “Musk wanted an escape. But the merger agreement left him little room.”
Bloomberg states that some legal experts predict that both parties will ultimately reach a settlement, potentially one in which Musk agrees to the acquisition – but at a lower price than his initial agreed-upon offer of $54.20 a share.
The decision, however, now lies in the hands of the Chancery Court in Delaware where the trial will take place in September, with the deadline for the deal going through on October 24.
Will Elon Musk be entitled to walk away, proving Twitter’s alleged failed provision of his requested information, or will he be locked into abiding by his agreement with Twitter?
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Picture: Intstagram