Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk moved to exit his planned $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on Friday, but the social media platform made it clear that there would be backlash.
According to a report from the Associated Press, shortly after Musk sent a letter — via his attorneys — stating that he was walking away from the deal, Twitter fired back.
“The chair of Twitter’s board, Bret Taylor, tweeted that the board plans to sue Elon Musk to complete the $44 billion merger he just rejected and that Twitter is ‘confident’ it will prevail,” the outlet tweeted.
BREAKING: The chair of Twitter's board, Bret Taylor, tweeted that the board plans to sue Elon Musk to complete the $44 billion merger he just rejected and that Twitter is "confident" it will prevail. https://t.co/TiwE4psu4j
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 8, 2022
“The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery,” Taylor tweeted.
The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
— Bret Taylor (@btaylor) July 8, 2022
According to a report from CNBC, the original agreement stated that Musk would pay $1 billion in the event that he backed out — but Twitter seems ready to call the billionaire’s bluff and demand that he follow through on the full $44 billion.
At issue — in addition to the percentage of Twitter users that may or may not be fake/”bot” accounts” — may be the fact that Twitter’s market value has declined considerably since Musk first brokered the deal. Individual shares when the bargain was first struck were $54.20, and at market close on Friday they were valued at $36.81.
Twitter stands to make money if the deal goes forward as planned — but Musk may see an opportunity to either get out of the deal altogether or to renegotiate and buy it at a lower price.