The 164-page counterclaim comes following the earlier announcement of a Twitter shareholder vote to determine whether the $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform, agreed to by Musk, should still go ahead. The final decision will be battled out in a five-day trial, announced via Zoom, and set to take place on October 17 later. Here’s what we know so far. After months of secretly buying shares, and eventually gaining a majority, Musk and Twitter agreed to an estimated $44 billion deal, in what the tech mogul described as “the future of civilization’. Unfortunately, things quickly fell apart. Musk then tweeted that spam and bot accounts could account for as high as 20% of Twitter users, as opposed to 5% – accusing Twitter of misleading regulators, and suggesting that their failure to present the information and data requested for the purchase voided their contractual obligations. Musk then pulled out of the deal.
Twitter Fights Back
Unsurprisingly, Twitter wasn’t too happy with Musk’s 180. In response, they filed a lawsuit claiming that Musk violated the merger agreement – arguing that they had kept to their side of the agreement and that Musk was merely looking for an excuse to back-out. Despite Musk’s attempt to delay the case, a judge issued an order for the proceedings to take place in October claiming that any further delay would cause “irreparable harm to the sellers and Twitter”. In the meantime Twitter and Tesla stocks continue to stumble. The five-day court day will take place on October 17, and the outcome could go either way.
