As expected, Twitter has sued Elon Musk in an attempt to force Musk to pull the trigger on a proposed $44 billion purchase of the short-message social network. Reuters reports that the Twitter lawsuit accuses Musk of trashing the company, disrupting its operations, and destroying stockholder value.
Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, 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.
Musk informed Twitter on Friday that he was pulling out of the deal due to Twitter’s “material breach of multiple provisions of the agreement.” Musk has previously said that he does not believe Twitter’s claim that fake or spam accounts represent less than 5% of users.
Musk also claimed that Twitter has not provided him with the relevant business information that he requested about spam account data.
After Musk’s announcement, Twitter chairman Bret Taylor said that Twitter’s board was “committed to closing the transaction” and that it planned to pursue legal action to enforce the agreement.
In April, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, and Twitter agreed to the offer in late April. Since then, the deal has been on hold due to an issue over spam or fake accounts. Twitter had claimed that fake or spam accounts represent less than five percent of users. Musk believed the percentage was much higher. Musk said at the time that he was “still committed to the acquisition,” but he also said that he wanted to look into Twitter’s spam account data.
