Elon Musk is trying to end an agreement to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion and take it private, alleging that the company misrepresented user data and setting the stage for an arduous court brawl.
The pullout marks a dramatic turn in a half-year saga that began with Musk building up an equity stake, lining up an elaborate financing plan and then striking a deal in April. Throughout, Musk has accused the company of misleading the public about the number of automated accounts known as spam bots on its platform, culminating with a termination letter sent Friday.
Twitter made “misleading representations” over the number of spam bots on the social network and hasn’t “complied with its contractual obligations” to provide information about how to assess how prevalent the bots are, Musk’s representatives said in the letter included in a regulatory filing.
