Twitter sues Elon Musk to complete his $44 billion acquisition

Twitter Inc. sued billionaire Elon Musk for violating his $44 billion deal to purchase the microblogging platform. The firm asked a Delaware court to order the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to complete the merger.

The complaint read Musk believed that he—unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law—was free to change his mind, trash the firm, destroy stockholder value, disrupt its operations, and walk away scot-free.

The litigation sets in motion what promises to be one of the most important legal face-offs in Wall Street history, concerning one of the business world’s most colorful entrepreneurs in a case that will turn on staid contract language.

On July 8, Musk said he was terminating the deal because Twitter violated the agreement by failing to answer to requests for information regarding fake or spam accounts on the platform, which is fundamental to its business performance.

The lawsuit accused Elon Musk of a long list of violations of the merger agreement that have cast a pall over the social media platform and its business. Twitter said for the first time that employee attrition has been on the upswing since the deal was announced.

Twitter’s shares closed at $34.06 on Tuesday, up 4.3%, but much below the above $50 where it traded when Twitter’s board accepted the acquisition in late April 2022.