Twitter sues Elon Musk over ‘wrongful’ attempt to pull out of $44bn acquisition deal

Tech billionaire’s attempt to leave deal is ‘invalid,’ Twitter claims

Twitter sued Elon Musk on Tuesday, arguing the tech billionaire is legally bound to carry out his $44bn acquisition of the social network, after the Tesla CEO said last week he wanted to walk away from the deal.

Twitter argued leaving the deal now is “invalid and wrongful” under the terms of an April contract, according to a letter sent to Mr Musk’s lawyers.

The company tore into Mr Musk in a legal complaint filed in Delaware Court, writing that the billionaire “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.”

Mr Musk, meanwhile, has claimed Twitter failed to give him the information he sought about the presence of fake accounts and spam bots on the platform, entitling him to back off the buyout plan.

The suit, filed in Chancery Court in Delaware, could mark the beginning of an extended legal battle between the social network and the entrepreneur.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.