AFP
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NOS News•yesterday, 23:33
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Billionaire Elon Musk abandons plans to buy Twitter. have that are lawyers written to the US stock market watchdog SEC.
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According to Musk’s legal team, Twitter has failed to fulfill contractual obligations and has made false statements. “Sometimes Twitter ignored Musk’s requests, sometimes they were denied on seemingly illegitimate grounds, and sometimes Twitter claimed to comply with the requests while the company provided incomplete or useless information.”
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Musk has been arguing with Twitter about the actual number of daily users of the platform ever since he announced in mid-April that he wanted to take over the social medium for about $44 billion. According to Musk, the company was not honest about spam bots, which often automatically spread questionable content. Twitter insisted it was a maximum of 5 percent of users.
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Legal battle expected
In May, Musk had already paused the takeover attempt to give Twitter time to provide more information about it, but although the company recently said it was removing 1 million spam accounts daily, Musk remained critical. Earlier in the day, sources reported to American media that the deal was in jeopardy as a result.
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Shortly after announcing Musk’s decision, Twitter responded that it wants to go through with the deal, rather than accept a $1 billion lump sum. The news appears to be the prelude to a long legal battle between the two parties.
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Shares of Twitter are about 5 percent lower. The value of just under $37 is well short of the 54.20 that Musk offered for the company’s stock.
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