Twitter has filed a lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk in an attempt to force him to acquire the social media company, launching a legal war with the world’s richest man. It comes after Musk stated on Friday that he was withdrawing his proposed $44 billion (£37 billion) buyout of Twitter.
The Twitter takeover agreement stipulates that any legal challenges arising from the transaction must be resolved in Delaware, the corporate home of more than half of all US public firms, including Twitter and Musk’s Tesla Inc.
According to a court document, Twitter is requesting a four-day trial in September. Lawyers for the San Francisco-based firm claim it will only take four days in Delaware Chancery Court to argue that the world’s wealthiest man should be obliged to honour his commitment and pay $54.20 per share for Twitter. The non-jury trial is expected to begin on September 19.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday signals the start of what could be a lengthy court fight in which Twitter attempts to hold Musk to his commitment. Musk “refuses to honour his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests,” according to Twitter.
According to legal experts, the outcome of the case might be unpredictable, with a court ordering Musk to finish the sale or ordering him to pay a $1 billion breakup fee, or other eventualities like as a settlement, revision of the acquisition price, or Musk walking away without paying anything.
“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 wrote in the complaint. “This repudiation follows a long list of material contractual breaches by Musk that have cast a pall over Twitter and its business.”
