Twitter sued Elon Musk for violating the $44 billion contract to buy the social network. A Delaware court ordered Musk to stop the takeover.
According to the social media site, Musk had caused irreparable harm by breaking their contract. It has promised to enforce it. Last Friday, he moved to end the acquisition. This set the stage for a bitter legal battle.
Lawyers for Twitter accused Musk, in a filing to Delaware Chancery Court, of “a long list of contractual breaches” that they claimed had “cast a shadow” on the company.
Musk, who had made a public spectacle of putting Twitter in play and proposed and signed a seller-friendly merge agreement, apparently believes that he, unlike any other Delaware party, is free to change, trash the company’s operations, destroy shareholder value and walk away.”
Musk offered $54.20-a share to the company in April after he disclosed that he had a 9 percent stake in spring. He also declined an invitation for his board membership.
According to Forbes, Musk, 51, is worth $225 billion. With over 100 million followers, he is one of Twitter’s most well-known users.
After Musk declared that the agreement was “on hold” in May, it was widely believed to be in danger. He said that he would not release any more details about fake accounts on Twitter. As Musk sought to end the contract on Friday, lawyers representing him claimed that Twitter was in “material violation” of their agreement.
The company, however, stated in a last-minute filing that there was no diligence condition. It argued that his grounds for termination were “without merit”.
Twitter accused Musk of trying to shift the market downturn’s impact onto shareholders by dropping his takeover. It noted that Musk has shown disdain for the company, something one would expect him to do as its would be steward. Musk has disparaged Twitter and the merger agreement numerous times since signing it, creating business risks for Twitter and downward pressure on the share price.
