Burst billion deal
Twitter is suing Elon Musk for breach of contract – accusing him of “hypocrisy”.
It’s over between Twitter and tech billionaire Elon Musk
© Olivier Douliery / AFP
Twitter has sued tech billionaire Elon Musk after he pulled out of the acquisition agreement. Shortly before, Musk had canceled the billion-dollar deal with the platform.
Twitter has sued high-tech billionaire Elon Musk after Musk pulled out of the deal to take over the short message service. The online platform accuses Musk of breach of contract and wants to court him to complete the purchase, according to the lawsuit filed in a Delaware court on Tuesday. Musk’s reason for withdrawing from the billion-euro deal agreed in April was “hypocrisy,” Twitter continued.
The founder of the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the richest person in the world had the planned takeover of Twitter for a price of 44 billion dollars burst last Friday because of allegedly “false and misleading” information from the short message service. In particular, he accuses Twitter of false information about the number of spam or fake accounts on the platform.
Elon Musk had previously canceled the Twitter deal
The Twitter board of directors immediately declared that they wanted to go to court and use legal means to force Musk to complete the purchase. The company has now filed the announced lawsuit before a Delaware court specializing in business disputes.
“Musk’s conduct simply confirms that he wants to escape from the binding contract he voluntarily signed and that he wants to damage Twitter in the process,” the lawsuit reads. “Twitter has suffered irreparable harm as a result of the suspect’s violations and will continue to suffer irreparable harm.”
The court will now have to decide whether or not Musk can withdraw from the agreement. In their agreement, the multi-billionaire and Twitter had stipulated a contractual penalty of up to one billion dollars – around one billion euros – if one party withdraws.
Musk and Twitter agreed in April that the celebrated and controversial entrepreneur would take over the online platform. Musk’s withdrawal from the agreement is likely to result in a long and costly legal battle.