Broken deal: Elon Musk is being sued by Twitter – and mocked by Trump

Created: 07/14/2022, 14:57

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

Billionaire Elon Musk backed out of the Twitter takeover - and is now being sued by the platform.

His actions have shrunk both the value of Twitter and his fortune.

San Francisco – This lawsuit was to be expected: Twitter is taking tech billionaire Elon Musk to court to implement the agreed takeover of the online service.

As announced, the platform filed a lawsuit in the state of Delaware, as Board Chairman Bret Taylor announced on Tuesday.

The competent court can order the completion of a takeover.

Twitter also expressly demands this in the 60-page lawsuit published by US media.

Twitter sues Musk, saying his withdrawal is 'invalid and unlawful'

Elon Musk announced on Friday that he was withdrawing from the agreement to buy Twitter for around $44 billion.

To justify this, he referred to his previously unsubstantiated claims that there were significantly more fake accounts on Twitter than the company's estimate of less than five percent.

His lawyers argued that Twitter had failed in its contractual obligation to provide Musk with the necessary data access to verify the figures.

Twitter rejected this, calling Musk's withdrawal "invalid and unlawful."

A day later, Twitter's lawyers added the lawsuit: The Tesla boss probably believes that he can simply withdraw from a contract that has been concluded, to denigrate the company, mess up its business and destroy shareholder values.

"Musk's behavior confirms that he intends to get out of the binding contract he has signed and damage Twitter in the process," the document reads.

Twitter and Elon Musk are at odds over the failed takeover.

(Iconic image) © Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa

Twitter attributes Musk's actions to the stock market downturn, which has shrunk both Twitter's value and Musk's fortune.

However, the purchase agreement states that such a development is a risk to be borne by Musk and is not a reason for an exit.

In the lawsuit, Twitter describes its challenge to estimates of the number of fake accounts and demands for more data as an attempt to create a pretext for terminating the deal.

Musk's price now would be a good deal for Twitter shareholders

The company asked for an expedited review of the case.

US experts see Twitter in a better legal position than Musk, but at the same time raise the question of whether it would ultimately be possible to force him to take over if he didn't want it.

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The billionaire had planned to buy Twitter himself in the spring.

The board of directors of the online service initially blocked Musk's bid of $54.20 per share, but then accepted it.

Next, in the coming months, shareholders should vote to sell their stake to Musk.

Musk's price would be a good deal for many of them: the stock closed at a good $34 on Tuesday after gaining more than four percent.

Trump calls Musk a "bullshit artist"

It's not entirely clear why Musk would even want to buy the social network he loves to use.

The billionaire repeatedly emphasized that he is not interested in money, but above all in strengthening freedom of speech on the platform.

Musk said he would let former US President Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter, back on the platform.

However, he refused and now also made fun of Musk: During an election campaign appearance, Trump described the billionaire as a “bullshit artist” – i.e. as someone who only messes up or tells stories.

Musk signed a "really bad deal" with Twitter, according to the former US President.

Trump launched his own social network, Truth Social, after being banned from Twitter.

According to the financial portal Marketwatch, the Trump portal has around half a million users every day.

On Twitter, on the other hand, there are almost 220 million.