Elon Musk has broken his silence over his attempt to bail out on purchasing Twitter for $44bn, mocking the company before the firm hit back with a statement of its own that called his attempted termination “invalid and wrongful”.
On Monday, the world’s richest man went on the social media platform he claims he is no longer trying to buy and fired off a series of tweets suggesting he is gearing up for a likely legal battle.
One tweet contained a four-picture frame meme of him laughing, next to sentences reading: “They said I couldn’t buy Twitter. Then they wouldn’t disclose bot info. Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court. Now they have to disclose bot info in court.”
Another tweet was a picture of the actor Chuck Norris sitting at a chessboard with his chin resting atop his folded hands. Musk’s own reply to his tweet read “Chuckmate”.
The tweets, from Musk’s verified account, served as his first comments on his legal team’s Friday disclosure that he intends to nix his takeover of Twitter, which the network first resisted but then warmed up to.
Twitter announced in late April that it would sell to Musk, but on Friday, lawyers for Musk publicly filed notice that he wanted out of the agreement, arguing among other things that the platform had failed to provide promised information on fake and spam accounts – so-called bots.
Yet Musk is unlikely to walk away easily. On Monday, lawyers for the company denounced his attempt to back out, saying in a letter: “Twitter has breached none of its obligations under the agreement.
“The purported termination is invalid for the independent reason that Mr Musk and the other Musk parties have knowingly, intentionally, willfully, and materially breached the agreement … Twitter will continue to provide information reasonably requested by Mr Musk … and to diligently take all measures required to close the transaction,” the statement goes on.
Musk appears destined for a lengthy fight with Twitter in court. Notably, Twitter’s chairperson, Bret Taylor, said his company was ready to sue Musk in a Delaware state court to enforce the purchase deal it had struck. The agreement contained a provision that may compel Musk to go through with buying Twitter as long as he had the financing to do so, which the businessman indicated in May that he had.
Twitter announced in late April that it would sell to Musk, but on Friday, lawyers for Musk publicly filed notice that he wanted out of the agreement, arguing among other things that the platform had failed to provide promised information on fake and spam accounts – so-called bots.
Yet Musk is unlikely to walk away easily. On Monday, lawyers for the company denounced his attempt to back out, saying in a letter: “Twitter has breached none of its obligations under the agreement.
“The purported termination is invalid for the independent reason that Mr Musk and the other Musk parties have knowingly, intentionally, willfully, and materially breached the agreement … Twitter will continue to provide information reasonably requested by Mr Musk … and to diligently take all measures required to close the transaction,” the statement goes on.
Musk appears destined for a lengthy fight with Twitter in court. Notably, Twitter’s chairperson, Bret Taylor, said his company was ready to sue Musk in a Delaware state court to enforce the purchase deal it had struck. The agreement contained a provision that may compel Musk to go through with buying Twitter as long as he had the financing to do so, which the businessman indicated in May that he had.
