Twitter sues Elon Musk over his attempt to back out of $44 billion deal
The legal battle has officially begun
Elon Musk knows he overpaid for Twitter: Expert
Evolution VC Partners founder Gregg Smith reacts to the billionaire entrepreneur terminating his takeover bid of the social media platform on 'Varney & Co.'
Twitter officially sued Elon Musk on Tuesday over the Tesla CEO's attempt to terminate the $44 billion deal he made to purchase the social media giant.
In the complaint, Twitter accuses Musk of refusing "to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests" and seeks to force him to go through with the offer he made in April.
Twitter has sued Elon Musk in Delaware court seeking to force him to go through with his $44 billion offer to purchase the company. (Photo Illustration by Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"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's lawsuit states.
The filing is not a surprise.
Attorneys for Musk informed Twitter last week that the billionaire planned to terminate the deal to purchase the social media giant, alleging that the platform appears to have "made false and misleading representations" — particularly regarding how it handles spam accounts.
Twitter has sued Elon Musk for seeking to back out of his $44 billion offer to purchase the social media giant. ((Photo Illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWTR | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
In response, lawyers for Twitter condemned the "purported termination" in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), calling Musk's move "invalid and wrongful."
The filing included a statement from Twitter signaling that the company would take legal action.
TWITTER TORCHED OVER MUSK DEBACLE: A ‘GARBAGE COMPANY' WITH A ‘DISMAL FUTURE’
"We are committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plan to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement," the release stated. "We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery."
Musk responded by tweeting out a meme to his 100.8 million followers on the platform showing four photos of him laughing with captions that read: "They said I couldn't buy Twitter; Then they wouldn't disclose bot info; Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court; Now they have to disclose bot info in court."
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
FOX Business' Tyler O'Neil, Anders Hagstrom and Lawrence Reed contributed to this story.