Twitter Accuses Elon Musk of 'Trashing Company' and 'Hypocrisy' in New Lawsuit
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Twitter Accuses Elon Musk of 'Trashing Company' and 'Hypocrisy' in New Lawsuit

2 Minuten
1 year ago

A strongly worded document doubles down on Twitter's claim the world's richest man is refusing to honor his obligation because the $44 billion deal "no longer serves his personal interests."

Twitter Accuses Elon Musk of 'Trashing Company' and 'Hypocrisy' in New Lawsuit

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Twitter has sued Elon Musk in an attempt to force him to buy the social network.

A strongly worded document doubles down on the tech giant's claim that the world's richest man is refusing to honor his obligation because the $44 billion deal "no longer serves his personal interests."

The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, doesn't pull any punches. One segment reads:

"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."

Twitter also claims that the real reason Musk wants out of the deal isn't because of spam accounts or fake users. Instead, it's all down to the stock market's correction.

"Rather than bear the cost of the market downturn, as the merger agreement requires, Musk wants to shift it to Twitter's stockholders. This is in keeping with the tactics Musk has deployed against Twitter and its stockholders since earlier this year, when he started amassing an undisclosed stake in the company and continued to grow his position without required notification. It tracks the disdain he has shown for the company that one would have expected Musk, as its would-be steward, to protect."

Lawyers went on to accuse Musk of "hypocrisy" too — pointing out how he once wanted to rid the social network of crypto spam and "defeat the bots," but now demands confirmation that fake users isn't a serious problem.

And the social network challenged the assertion that it has violated the merger agreement — instead arguing that he is the one who "has been acting against this deal since the market started turning."

Awkwardly, some of Musk's own tweets have been submitted into evidence to back up Twitter's case — criticizing him also for disparaging tweets.

"Knowing that his actions risked harm to Twitter and its stockholders, wreaked havoc on the trading price of Twitter’s stock, and could have serious consequences for the deal, Musk leveled serious charges, both publicly and through lawyer letters, that Twitter had misled its investors and customers."

The billionaire has also been described as showing little interest in understanding Twitter's process for estimating spam accounts that went into the company's disclosures."

It's going to be a case that's full of drama, with some claiming it could be one of the biggest legal fights in Wall Street's history.

Musk is yet to discuss the lawsuit in detail on Twitter, his preferred platform for airing grievances and posting memes.

Bloomberg's claiming that the company wants the trial to begin quickly — and hopes a non-jury case can begin in September.

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