Twitter Fires Back: Letter Claims Elon Musk’s Request to Terminate Deal Is ‘Invalid and Wrongful’

Twitter said in a letter sent Monday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s decision to terminate his $44 billion buyout of the company is “invalid and wrongful.”

CNBC reports that in a letter on Monday, Twitter said that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attempt to terminate his proposed $44 billion acquisition of the company is “invalid and wrongful.” The letter was addressed to Musk’s lawyers and was sent following Musk’s declaration last Friday that he did not plan to go through with the deal, alleging that the company had misrepresented the number of bot accounts on the platform.

However, it should be noted that Twitter provided Musk with access to its “firehose” of user data weeks before the deal was called off. In June, experts warned that determining which Twitter accounts are bots and which are real people may not be as easy as Musk thought. Twitter has claimed that spam or fake accounts make up around five percent of its daily active users, but Musk believes the number is close to 20 percent.

According to sources close to the situation, Twitter aims to file a lawsuit against Musk as early as this week. Twitter’s decision to hire the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP appears to be a calculated one, as the move gives them access to lawyers including William Savitt and Leo Strine, who served as Chancellor of the Delaware Chancery Court where the case could be heard.

Twitter attorney William Savitt wrote in the letter sent on Monday that “Twitter has breached none of its obligations under the Agreement.” Savitt alleges that the buyout agreement remains intact.

Savitt wrote in the letter: “As it has done, Twitter will continue to provide information reasonably requested by Mr. Musk under the Agreement and to diligently take all measures required to close the transaction.”

He added: “Twitter reserves all contractual, legal, and other rights, including its right to specifically enforce the Musk Parties’ obligations under the Agreement.”

Twitter shares fell 11 percent on Monday to $32.65 and are now trading 40 percent below the price of $54.20 that Musk agreed to pay in April.

Musk has reportedly hired Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP as his legal representation in the matter. The firm previously led a successful defense against a defamation claim in 2019 and is representing Musk in an ongoing shareholder lawsuit over his failure to take Tesla private in 2018.

Read more at CNBC here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan