Twitter has taken billionaire Elon Musk to court for being forced to buy the social media firm, setting off a legal battle with the world’s richest man. It came as Mr Musk announced on Friday he was walking away from his proposed $44bn (£37bn) acquisition of Twitter.
He claimed that Twitter had not disclosed the number of fake and spam accounts on the platform.
Now Twitter has asked a Delaware court to order Mr Musk to complete the merger at an agreed $54.20 per Twitter share.
“Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, [Mr] Musk 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,” said the lawsuit.
Twitter chairman Bret Taylor tweeted that the microblogging site wanted “to hold Elon Musk accountable to his contractual obligations”.
Mr Musk tweeted on Tuesday: “Oh, the irony lol [laughing out loud].”
The lawsuit said Mr Musk had backed out of the deal because it “no longer serves his interests”.
Mr Musk is the chief executive of the electric car company Tesla. The lawsuit said that after Mr Musk agreed to the deal, the stock market fell, along with Tesla shares.
“The value of Mr Musk‘s stake in Tesla, the anchor of his wealth, has declined by more than $100bn from its November 2021 peak. So Mr Musk wants out,” it said.
Twitter’s share price has fallen more than 8% over the past month and fell from highs of more than $50 per share in May, as Mr Musk questioned the number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter, saying That the deal was “temporarily on hold”. ,
On Friday, Mr Musk said he was pulling out of the deal, claiming a lack of information about spam accounts and false representations amounted to a “material adverse event”.
He also said that sacking Twitter meant it was not fulfilling its obligations.
In response, Twitter said it planned to take legal action to enforce the agreement, adding that it is “committed to closing the transaction at a price and terms agreed with Mr.
The original merger agreement included a break-up fee of $1bn.