Fakoyejo Olalekan
World’s richest man, Elon Musk, is taking steps to countersue Twitter after the board of the social media company filed a lawsuit against him over termination of the acquisition deal.
Musk had backed out of the deal, stating that the board ignored his request for information relating to Twitter’s bot account users. He said their refusal to grant him access is a breach of contract, hence, the termination.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelRecall the billionaire had doubted the claim by Twitter that bot users account for only 5% of its total users, stating that if there’s more, he wouldn’t go further with the deal. He later said the methodology used to arrive the percentage was doubtful.
The board, however, said the company provided Musk with information necessary to the acquisition agreement, and sued the investor in a bid to use the court to complete the deal.
With the Twitter lawsuit set for hearing on Tuesday, Musk is reportedly considering a countersuit, and both lawsuits will be heard by the chancellor of Delaware Court of Chancery, Kathaleen McCormick.
Meanwhile, both Musk and Twitter board are also in disagreement over the court date for commencement of the trial centered on the lawsuit by the company. The businessman prefer February 2023, while the firm wants September 2022.
Musk said next year is preferable due to the time needed to gather his documents on the bot accounts for defense, but the board believes he is trying to kill time, considering the debt financing for the acquisition deal will expire in April, and there are other potential litigation before then.
In a court filing, Twitter’s board said, “Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt.” The social networking site said, adding, “No public company of this size and scale has ever had to bear these uncertainties.”
Musk risk $1 billion fine in the faceoff against Twitter board, as their acquisition contract stipulates the penalty for anyone that tries to terminate the deal.
