Tesla boss Elon Musk has submitted a hiring application Twitterexpediting a lawsuit over his plan to end a $44 billion acquisition deal with the social media giant.
His lawyers filed papers with the Delaware Chancery Court argued that Twitter’s motion to bring the merger case to court in two months was “unjustifiable” and called for its denial.
“Twitter’s sudden request for warp speed after two months of toting and obfuscation is its latest tactic to obfuscate the truth about spam accounts long enough to shut down the railroad defendants,” his attorneys said in a court filing.
The San Francisco-based social media company had asked the court to expedite the proceedings due to the uncertainty looming over its business during the recent economic downturn. Mr Musk is looking to pull out of the billion-dollar deal after claiming Twitter has a “spam bot” problem.
Twitter sued the richest man in the world on Tuesday for violating the deal and asked the court to order Mr Musk to complete the merger at the agreed price of $54.20 per share.
In the lawsuit, filed by Twitter, the company attacked Mr Musk, writing that the billionaire “apparently believes he — unlike any other party subject to Delaware contract law — is free to change his mind about ruining the company.” , disrupt its operations, destroy shareholder value and walk away.”
The company requested the process begin by mid-September to protect Twitter and its shareholders “from the ongoing market risk and operational damage resulting from Musk’s attempt to squeeze his way out of an airtight merger agreement.” The Wall Street Journal reported.
The merger deal with Mr. Musk ends on October 25.
Mr Musk’s lawyers have requested a trial date on or after February 13 next year, accusing the company of withholding information about bogus and spam accounts that the Tesla boss claims is fundamental to Twitter’s value are.
The lawyers argued that it would take months to obtain information and expose numerous witnesses on the subject of fake accounts.
The filing reiterated several other allegations previously made against the company, including claims that Twitter violated the acquisition agreement when it fired two senior managers without notifying Mr Musk in advance.
The deal will reportedly fall through if the trial starts in February and doesn’t end by April, as the debt financing package promised by the banks for Mr Musk’s takeover expires in April 2023.
Since Mr Musk’s acquisition deal took shape, Twitter’s stock has fallen more than a third from the asking price.
