Twitter went from fighting Elon Musk’s takeover of the company in April to going to court to force him to buy the social media giant after the entrepreneur backed out over ongoing concerns about the percentage of users who are spam/bots. In response to Twitter’s legal threats, however, Musk just laughed (through a meme on Twitter, anyway.) Now, though, there are reports that may suggest why.
According to the New York Post, Musk will file a counter-lawsuit, which would give him more time to gather information about the company’s bots.
Musk’s lawyers are angling to push a Delaware Court of Chancery judge to grant them more time and power to gather information about bots on Twitter, sources close to the situation said. A protracted legal battle could also potentially drag down the company’s stock, giving Musk more leverage to renegotiate Twitter’s sale price.
The news comes less than a week after Twitter sued Musk in Delaware, accusing the mogul of agreeing to buy the site then attempting to “trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away.” […]
Twitter wants the court to force Musk to purchase Twitter at the agreed-upon price of $54.20 per share, while Musk has argued that he’s allowed to terminate the deal because Twitter has failed to provide adequate information about fake accounts on the site. (New York Post)
In a filing with the Delaware Court of Chancery, Musk’s attorneys on Friday said Twitter was not being transparent about fake accounts on its site and pushed back on the company’s call for an expedited trial.
“The core dispute over false and spam accounts is fundamental to Twitter’s value,” the filing states. “It is also extremely fact and expert intensive, requiring substantial time for discovery.”
Musk has 20 days from when Twitter filed its lawsuit to file his counterclaims. A judge will hear Twitter’s request for a September trial on Tuesday.
