‘A model of bad faith’: why Twitter is suing Elon Musk
Twitter is suing Elon Musk over his decision to terminate an agreed $44bn (£37bn) takeover of the company. An already acrimonious relationship descended into outright hostility on Tuesday when it lodged a lawsuit in the US state of Delaware, the company’s corporate base, accusing Musk of trashing the company and walking away. Here is a breakdown of what the lawsuit says.
The 62-page legal document launches straight into a savage assessment of how the world’s richest man has behaved throughout the saga. It says Musk entered into a binding agreement in April this year and is pulling out because “the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests”.
The opening salvo adds: “Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, Musk apparently believes that he – unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law – is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value and walk away.”
The rest of the document is littered with accusations of unreasonable demands and inconsistent behaviour that Twitter describes as “a model of bad faith”. It also accuses Musk of treating the process as an “elaborate joke”. The lack of regard for Musk is so strong throughout you wonder how Twitter staff will react to the fact that the lawsuit is actually trying to force Musk to buy the company.
As the lawsuit states: “Employee attrition, meanwhile, has been on the upswing since the signing of the merger agreement.”
The document states that Twitter is “entitled to specific performance” of Musk’s obligations under the agreement, a legal term that means requiring the Tesla CEO to buy the company for the $54.20 a share that
Read more on theguardian.com
