Twitter Inc responds to Musk’S counterclaims in Delaware court
On Thursday, Twitter Inc dismissed Elon Musk’s claims in a Delaware court filing that he was hoodwinked into signing the deal to buy the social media company, saying that it was “implausible and contrary to fact.”
The two sides head to trial on October 17 after Musk sought to abandon his deal to acquire Twitter over what he says is a misrepresentation of fake accounts on the site.
Musk made the claims in a countersuit filed under seal last Friday, which was made public on Thursday.
“According to Musk, he — the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers — was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger agreement. That story is as implausible and contrary to the fact as it sounds,” the filing released by Twitter on Thursday said.
Twitter’s filing is the latest salvo in what is building up to be an increasingly acrimonious legal showdown between the world’s richest person and the social media giant.
The San Francisco-based company is trying to force Musk to follow through on the deal and accuses him of sabotaging it because it no longer served his interests.
In the counterclaims made public Thursday, Musk accuses Twitter of stepping up efforts to conceal the true number of its users, as the market plummeted.
“As a long bull market was coming to a close, and the tide was going out, Twitter knew that providing the Musk parties the information they were requesting would reveal that Twitter had been swimming naked,” the counterclaims say.
Twitter counters that Musk has not “pleaded a shred of evidence” for these “fact-free” allegations. Musk also claims that “Twitter’s misrepresentations run far deeper than simply providing incorrect numbers” about its spam or false accounts.
While “Twitter touts having 238 million ‘monetizable daily active users,’ those users who actually see ads” is roughly 65 million lower, Musk says in the counterclaims.
Twitter maintains that its SEC disclosures about monetizable daily active users were accurate.
Earlier this week, Twitter issued dozens of subpoenas to banks, investors, and law firms that backed Musk’s takeover bid, while Musk issued subpoenas to Twitter’s advisers at Goldman Sachs and J P Morgan over their work.
Legal experts have said Twitter’s requests suggested the company wanted to know why Musk turned against it, or whether he reneged on his obligation to obtain sufficient financing.
Musk sought to back out on July 8 without paying a $1 billion breakup fee, citing Twitter’s failure to provide details on bot and spam accounts. Twitter sued him four days later.
PGurus is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with all the latest news and views
For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.
Drama watching times !!