[WATCH] Twitter Sues Elon Musk For Violating Merger Deal

Twitter has sued billionaire Elon Musk in an effort to force him to follow through with his deal to buy the social media company.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery on Tuesday, comes after Musk said in a letter to Twitter’s top lawyer late Friday that he wants to terminate the blockbuster $44 billion acquisition agreement.

After initially saying he wanted to buy Twitter to eradicate bots, Musk has in recent weeks expressed concerns (without any apparent evidence) that there are more bots on the platform than Twitter has publicly reported. In the complaint filed Tuesday, Twitter’s lawyers say they are seeking to prevent Musk from further breaches of the agreement and to “compel consummation of the merger upon satisfaction of the few outstanding conditions.”

Here we go: Twitter sues Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/Rz20U8YsdB

— kate conger (@kateconger) July 12, 2022

“In April 2022, Elon Musk entered into a binding merger agreement with Twitter, promising to use his best efforts to get the deal done,” the complaint states. “Now, less than three months later, Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.”

 

Twitter sues Elon Musk, calling his attempts to weasel out of the deal “a model of hypocrisy” and “a model of bad faith.” https://t.co/iWpLK9h7Wf pic.twitter.com/DJ0xQjQYyC

— Casey Newton (@CaseyNewton) July 12, 2022

 

Shortly after news of the suit was filed, Musk tweeted, “Oh the irony lol.”

Oh the irony lol

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022

The deal is now likely headed for a lengthy court battle to determine whether Twitter can force Musk to close the deal and become its owner, or at least get him to pay the $1 billion set out as a breakup fee in the original agreement.