Tesla CEO Elon Musk has accused Twitter of fraud in his counter-suit against the social media company. Twitter has filed a lawsuit against the billionaire to force him to go through with the $44 billion deal to buy the platform. “Musk parties bring their counterclaims for breach of contract and termination based on Twitter’s fraud.“
Elon Musk’s legal battle with Twitter intensifies
Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk has filed a lawsuit against Twitter after the social networking giant sued him for ending the $44 billion deal to buy the platform. Musk’s countersuit, filed Thursday and released Friday, states:
The action stems from Twitter’s misrepresentations to the Musk parties about the company’s status and the “key metrics” that Twitter uses to gauge the number of users on its platform.
“Twitter miscounted the number of fake and spam accounts on its platform, as part of its plan to mislead investors about the company’s prospects by focusing on its alleged hundreds of millions of mDAUs“, Elon Musk alleged. The social media company defines monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) as “Users who logged in and accessed Twitter on a given day through Twitter.com or ad-capable Twitter apps“.
The Counterattack describes:”After signing the merger agreement, however, Elon Musk’s advisors learned some troubling facts that cast serious doubt on Twitter’s claims.“
“As Twitter asks the court to force Musk to close on Twitter’s misrepresentations and contractual violations, Musk’s lawyers seek relief from the grave unfairness of such an outcome“, Musk’s lawyers noted, elaborating:
Accordingly, Elon Musk’s lawyers bring their counterclaims for breach of contract and termination based on Twitter’s fraud.
Twitter on Thursday filed a series of rebuttals to Musk’s counterclaim, accusing the Tesla CEO of cherry-picking numbers and misrepresenting how his online advertising system works.
Twitter board member Bret Taylor tweeted in response to Musk’s allegations:
Twitter has filed a response to Mr. Musk’s counterclaims. His claims are factually inaccurate, legally insufficient and commercially irrelevant. We look forward to the trial in the Delaware Chancery Court.
Twitter has subpoenaed crypto exchange Binance and more than a dozen of Elon Musk’s advisers and potential lenders in its lawsuit against the Tesla CEO. In May, Musk revealed that he had secured funding from 18 companies to buy Twitter, including Binance.
Other companies and individuals subpoenaed by Twitter include Factorial Funds, Benefit Street, Bandera Partners, Founders Fund Growth II Management, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin, Tesla and Spacex. The subpoenas require them to turn over documents and communications that support or refute Musk’s accusation that Twitter underreported the number of fake or spam accounts on its platform.
Musk officially pulled the plug on the $44 billion deal to buy the social media giant last month, alleging that “Twitter is in material breach of several provisions of that agreement“. The billionaire’s attorney noted that Twitter has made “materially inaccurate statements“, particularly with respect to the company’s claim that less than 5% of its mDAU are fake or spam accounts.
Twitter responded by suing Musk last month to force the Tesla boss to follow through on the buyout deal, claiming that “Elon Musk is refusing to honor his obligations to Twitter and its shareholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.“The case is expected to go to trial on October 17.