The Tesla boss’s lawyers have filed papers with the… Delaware Chancery Court, which found the social media giant’s request to take the merger case to trial within two months “unjustified”.
“Twitter’s sudden request for warp speed after two months of dragging and obfuscation is the latest tactic to hide the truth about spam accounts long enough to persuade suspects to shut down,” they said in a lawsuit.
The social media company asked the court to expedite proceedings due to uncertainty surrounding its business during the recent economic downturn.
Musk wants to walk away from the billion-dollar deal after claiming Twitter has a “spam bot” problem.
Twitter sued the world’s richest man on Tuesday for breaching the deal and asked the court to order him to complete the merger at the agreed price of $54.20 per share.
In his lawsuit, Musk tore Twitter writing that the billionaire “apparently believes that he — unlike any other party subject to Delaware’s contract law — is free to change his mind, destroy the company, disrupt, destroy shareholder value and walk away.”
It requested a hearing in mid-September to protect Twitter and its shareholders “from the lingering market risk and operational damage resulting from Musk’s attempt to work its way out of an airtight merger agreement,” The Wall Street Journal reported.
The merger agreement with Mr. Musk expires on October 25.
Musk’s lawyers have requested a trial date on or after February 13 next year, accusing the company of withholding information about fake and spam accounts that the Tesla chief claims is fundamental to Twitter’s value. .
Matt Navarra, social media expert and industry commentator, said Twitter’s legal action “delivers a brutal and blunt account of Elon Musk’s corporate takeover theatrics”.
It references a number of tweets about Musk’s deal, including the poop emoji he sent in response to a tweet from the platform’s chief executive about fake account numbers.
“Twitter describes Elon Musk as a hypocrite who destroyed the company and caused ‘irreparable damage’,” Navarra said.
“Yet Twitter wants a judge to force Elon Musk to pay and finalize the $44 billion acquisition deal he started. This could well be the world’s most expensive case of ‘If you break it, you pay for it’.”