NEW YORK — Twitter Inc saw its shares plummet on Monday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk scrapped a $44 billion deal to buy the social media giant.
The platform’s stock fell 5.46% on Wall Street to $34.80 around 7:05 a.m. (11:05 GMT). Before the weekend, it had lost 5.10%.
Musk pulled the plug on Friday, accusing the company of making “misleading” statements about the number of fake accounts, according to a letter from his lawyers, a copy of which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Musk’s efforts to end the deal he signed in April are setting the stage for an epic court battle over a billion-dollar breach fee.
- Elon Musk daughter separates with father, files for name change
- Elon Musk sells Tesla shares after Twitter scoop
- Elon Musk joins Twitter board of directors after acquiring large stake
The social network claims that the number of fake accounts is less than 5%, a figure questioned by the multi-billionaire who believes that the number is much higher.
According to several American media, Twitter has hired the prominent New York law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Twitter declined to comment to AFP.
After the news broke, Musk tweeted, “They said I can’t buy Twitter. Then they won’t reveal any information about the bot. Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court. Now they have to disclose information about the bots in court.” accompanied by images of him laughing.
For analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities, “this is a ‘code red’ situation for Twitter and its board of directors, as the company will now face Musk in a legal battle against Game of Thrones.”
“We currently do not see any other bidders appearing while court cases are ongoing.”
- AFP
