Twitter is standing its ground in a spat with Elon Musk.
Musk’s decision last week to walk away from a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter was deemed “invalid and wrongful” by lawyers for the social media giant on Sunday.
“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,” William Savitt, an attorney representing Twitter, wrote in the letter.
Musk’s lawyers said in a letter issued Friday that Twitter failed to comply with its contractual responsibilities to disclose how many fake accounts exist on Twitter and that the social media platform ignored or refused Musk’s demands for information regarding Twitter’s users and business processes.
Twitter’s lawyers denied the allegations, stating the company would continue to “provide reasonably requested information by Mr. Musk under the agreement and to diligently pursue all actions required to close the transaction.”
Musk attempted to respond to the letter Monday afternoon, tweeting a screenshot of a character from the “Elden Ring” video game that indicated he was ready to fight.
According to legal experts, Musk’s decision to back out of the transaction will be difficult and almost certainly result in a legal dispute. The terms of the agreement include a $1 billion termination charge, which Musk believes he should not have to pay, according to sources. And, as Twitter’s recent letter makes clear, the company still wants the purchase to go through, which may lead to a complicated legal fight.
While the two parties may reach an agreement or renegotiate the sale price, even experts are unsure how this story will end.
“Legally, this isn’t a hard case,” Ann Lipton, a business law professor at Tulane University Law School, said.
“Most cases of this sort have a much stronger argument, but Elon Musk is always an X factor.”