Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Elon Musk, Twitter, Technology
Joe Harker
Elon Musk's $44 billion bid to buy Twitter appears to have collapsed completely, and now they have plans to sue him.
Musk pulled the plug on his multi-billion dollar takeover of Twitter, claiming he had been misled by the social media giant.
He alleges that Twitter didn't give him the right information about the number of fake accounts and bots on the site or the way the social media platform registers daily active users.
Incredibly, it seems like Twitter is still aiming to push the sale through, even though Musk is no longer a willing buyer.
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The social media company has indicated that despite Musk no longer wanting to buy them, they are still 'committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon'.
The Tesla CEO wants to walk away from the $44 billion deal and is arguing that Twitter violated the sale agreement, which would mean he doesn't have to pay a $1 billion penalty for the deal collapsing.
In typical Musk fashion, he took to Twitter itself to offer a response.
Musk's response to the news that Twitter was suing him was a succinct post on the social media site reading: "Oh the irony lol."
Twitter, meanwhile, are in the incredible position of trying to make someone who no longer wants to buy them spend $44 billion on a deal to buy them.
The agreement signed between Musk and Twitter reportedly contains a clause that allows the social media company to sue him and force the Tesla CEO to buy them, which is exactly what they're doing now.
Surprisingly, there is a legal precedent for this sort of thing, and it doesn't look likely to be in Musk's favour.
In 2001 the Delaware Court of Chancery forced corporation Tyson Foods to buy a meat processor when it tried to back out of an agreement after having questions about the business it was buying.
If the same ruling goes ahead then Musk will have gone from wanting to buy Twitter, to not wanting to buy Twitter, to being forced to buy Twitter.
Perhaps one other factor that may affect the deal is the significant drop in Twitter's share price.
When Musk agreed to buy the company for $44 billion he agreed a deal to buy each share for $54.20, at time of writing a Twitter share is worth about $35 so if he does end up being forced to buy he'll be overpaying by quite a large amount.
Then again, he could end up being a trillionaire by 2024 so if that turns out well for him a measly $44 billion would barely put a dent in his bank account.
Without wishing to sound jealous, it would be very nice to be in a situation where having to spend $44 billion wouldn't be a major financial setback.
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