Twitter sued Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday, 12 July for reneging on his $44 billion deal to acquire the microblogging platform and asked a court in US' Delaware to order him to go ahead with the merger at the agreed price, Reuters reported.
The lawsuit marks the beginning of what will possibly be a protracted legal battle between the billionaire and Twitter.
"Musk apparently believes that he – unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law – is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away," the lawsuit said, according to the report.
Meanwhile, soon after reports emerged of the lawsuit, Musk took to Twitter to write, "Oh the irony lol."
His tweet, which did not mention the lawsuit, is being seen as an allusion to the fact that Twitter was not initially inclined to the deal.
'Inaccurate Representation' of Spam Accounts
Musk said that he was terminating the deal due to Twitter violating the agreement by failing to respond to his information request regarding spam or fake accounts on the microblogging platform.
He said that the lack of information about spam accounts and “inaccurate representations” amounting to a “material adverse event” was the reason he was terminating the merger, adding that the executive departures within the company amounted to a failure to conduct business in the ordinary course, as Twitter was obligated to do, Reuters reported.
Reuters further reported that the lawsuit accused Musk of “a long list” of violations of the merger agreement which has “cast a pall over Twitter and its business.”
Twitter’s shares tumbled to $34.06 on Tuesday; its share price was above $50 when the social media platform’s board accepted Musk’s deal in April.
Musk Terminates Deal, Twitter Hits Back
Musk terminated his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on 8 July, accusing the tech company of making "false and misleading representations" about how many bots were on its platform.
Twitter hit back, calling Musk's withdrawal “invalid and wrongful” and insisted that it had breached none of its obligations under the agreement.
"Twitter demands that Mr. Musk and the other Musk Parties comply with their obligations under the Agreement, including their obligations to use their respective reasonable best efforts to consummate and make effective the transactions contemplated by the Agreement," the company's letter said.
Twitter's chairperson Bret Taylor has said that the company is committed to closing the transaction on the agreed upon terms and is confident it will prevail in court.
Twitter has hired US-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to fight the case.
(With inputs from Reuters.)
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