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Twitter officially sue Elon Musk to force him into buying platform

Published 07:57 13 Jul 2022 BST

Updated 08:14 13 Jul 2022 BST

Kieran Galpin

Twitter officially sue Elon Musk to force him into buying platform

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The lawsuit includes a 'long list' of Musk's violations

After attempting to back out of his $44bn takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk is facing legal hurdles as the platform attempts to force his hand. The 51-year-old tech-mogul announced on Friday that he would no longer be purchasing Twitter after solidifying the deal earlier this year. Musk claimed that Twitter was not forthcoming about the number of bots on their site, which is ironic given how many of Musk's followers are bots. Now, Twitter have hit back and filed a lawsuit against the Tesla CEO. "Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, [Mr] 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 lawsuit, filed in Delaware, reads. The lawsuit includes a "long list" of Musk's violations and argues that he backed out of the deal as it "no longer serves his personal interests". Twitter chairman Bret Taylor tweeted that the platform wanted "to hold Elon Musk accountable to his contractual obligations." https://twitter.com/btaylor/status/1546965769983889409 In response, Musk tweeted on Tuesday: "Oh the irony lol." "The value of Mr Musk's stake in Tesla, the anchor of his personal wealth, has declined by more than $100bn from its November 2021 peak. So [Mr] Musk wants out," the lawsuit added. "Rather than bear the cost of the market downturn, as the merger agreement requires, [Mr] Musk wants to shift it to Twitter's stockholders." https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1546980241494745100 While Twitter and Musk toil in court, many have taken to the platform to share their thoughts. "So the circus has come to town. Lets see if they host an open court. I'm sure many youtubers could benefit from decemination of live feed," one user wrote, alluding to the million-dollar defamation trial between Amber Heard and ex-husband Johnny Depp.