MUST READ - India’s demography at crossroads: Elderly may outnumber the youth Read here
HomeTechnologyTwitter sues Elon Musk to hold him to $44 billion deal
Twitter sues Elon Musk to hold him to $44 billion deal
"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," said the complaint.
ADVERTISEMENT
By: Reuters |
July 13, 2022 8:39:59 am
In recent weeks, Musk has questioned whether Twitter‘s user base is as big as the company claims. (File photo)
Twitter Inc sued Elon Musk on Tuesday for violating his $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform and asked a Delaware court to order the world’s richest person to complete the merger at the agreed $54.20 per Twitter share.
“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,” said the complaint.
The lawsuit sets in motion what promises to be one of the biggest legal showdowns in Wall Street history, involving one of the business world’s most colorful entrepreneurs in a case that will turn on staid contract language.
On Friday, Musk said he was terminating the deal because Twitter violated the agreement by failing to respond to requests for information regarding fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to its business performance.
Musk, who is the chief executive officer of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit accused Musk of “a long list” of violations of the merger agreement that “have cast a pall over Twitter and its business.” It said for the first time that employee attrition has been “on the upswing” since the deal was announced.
Twitter also accused Musk of “secretly” accumulating shares in the company between January and March without properly disclosing his substantial purchases to regulators, and said he “instead kept amassing Twitter stock with the market none the wiser.”
Shares of the social media platform closed at $34.06 on Tuesday, up 4.3%, but sharply below the levels above $50 where it traded when the deal was accepted by Twitter’s board in late April. The stock added another 1% after the bell.
Musk said he was terminating the merger because of the lack of information about spam accounts and inaccurate representations that he said amounted to a “material adverse event.” He also said executive departures amounted to a failure to conduct business in the ordinary course – although Twitter said it removed that language from the merger contract during negotiations.
MUST READ - India’s demography at crossroads: Elderly may outnumber the youth Read here
HomeTechnologyTwitter sues Elon Musk to hold him to $44 billion deal
Twitter sues Elon Musk to hold him to $44 billion deal
"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," said the complaint.
ADVERTISEMENT
By: Reuters |
July 13, 2022 8:39:59 am
In recent weeks, Musk has questioned whether Twitter‘s user base is as big as the company claims. (File photo)
Twitter Inc sued Elon Musk on Tuesday for violating his $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform and asked a Delaware court to order the world’s richest person to complete the merger at the agreed $54.20 per Twitter share.
“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,” said the complaint.
ADVERTISEMENT
The lawsuit sets in motion what promises to be one of the biggest legal showdowns in Wall Street history, involving one of the business world’s most colorful entrepreneurs in a case that will turn on staid contract language.
On Friday, Musk said he was terminating the deal because Twitter violated the agreement by failing to respond to requests for information regarding fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to its business performance.
SUBSCRIBER ONLY STORIESView All
Mattewara a game changer?
Premium
Mattewara a game changer?
National Emblem Row: Dimensions, angle of view, make emblem look differen...
Premium
National Emblem Row: Dimensions, angle of view, make emblem look differen...
India’s demography at crossroads: Elderly may outnumber the youth
Premium
India’s demography at crossroads: Elderly may outnumber the youth
Premium
Explained: Why the euro has fallen to $1, what it means for the rupee
Subscribe Now to get 66% OFF
ADVERTISEMENT
Explained |Why does Elon Musk want to terminate $44 billion Twitter deal and what happens next?
Musk, who is the chief executive officer of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit accused Musk of “a long list” of violations of the merger agreement that “have cast a pall over Twitter and its business.” It said for the first time that employee attrition has been “on the upswing” since the deal was announced.
Twitter also accused Musk of “secretly” accumulating shares in the company between January and March without properly disclosing his substantial purchases to regulators, and said he “instead kept amassing Twitter stock with the market none the wiser.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Shares of the social media platform closed at $34.06 on Tuesday, up 4.3%, but sharply below the levels above $50 where it traded when the deal was accepted by Twitter’s board in late April. The stock added another 1% after the bell.
Musk said he was terminating the merger because of the lack of information about spam accounts and inaccurate representations that he said amounted to a “material adverse event.” He also said executive departures amounted to a failure to conduct business in the ordinary course – although Twitter said it removed that language from the merger contract during negotiations.
Twitter also said it did not share more information with Musk regarding spam accounts because it feared he would build a competing platform after abandoning the acquisition.
Twitter called the reasons cited by Musk a “pretext” that lacked merit and said his decision to walk away had more to do with a decline in the stock market, particularly for tech stocks.
Tesla’s stock, the main source of Musk’s fortune, has lost around 30% of its value since the deal was announced and closed on Tuesday at $699.21.
In a separate filing, Twitter asked the court to schedule a four-day trial in mid-September.
In a memo to Twitter staff on Tuesday, Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal sought to reassure employees about the future.
“We will prove our position in court and we believe we will prevail,” he wrote in the note, which was seen by Reuters.
You must be logged in to post a comment.