Elon Musk has been in talks with Twitter since April regarding his purchase of the social media platform but now, in a statement made on Friday, he's changed his tune.
According to CNN Business, Musk stated in an official letter filed to Twitter's lawyers that his decision to end the $44 billion deal is due to their signed agreement being "in material breach of multiple provisions."
"While Section 6.4 of the Merger Agreement requires Twitter to provide Mr. Musk and his advisors all data and information that Mr. Musk requests "for any reasonable business purpose related to the consummation of the transaction," Twitter has not complied with its contractual obligations," the filing details.
"For nearly two months, Mr. Musk has sought the data and information necessary to "make an independent assessment of the prevalence of fake or spam accounts on Twitter's platform" (our letter to you dated May 25, 2022 (the "May 25 Letter")). This information is fundamental to Twitter's business and financial performance and is necessary to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement because it is needed to ensure Twitter's satisfaction of the conditions to closing, to facilitate Mr. Musk's financing and financial planning for the transaction, and to engage in transition planning for the business. Twitter has failed or refused to provide this information. Sometimes Twitter has ignored Mr. Musk's requests, sometimes it has rejected them for reasons that appear to be unjustified, and sometimes it has claimed to comply while giving Mr. Musk incomplete or unusable information," the filing furthers.
Regardless of Musk pushing pause on his purchase plans, Twitter executives have made it clear that they are still interested in following through with their agreement.
"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," says Twitter's chairman, Bret Taylor. "We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery."
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
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Although many Twitter users expressed distaste over Musk's plans to buy the company when word first spread in April, shares in Twitter stock fell 6% after it was announced on Friday that the deal may no longer go through.
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