Elon Musk accused Twitter of fraud in a countersuit about his aborted $44 billion deal for the company. He claims that Twitter had held back needed information and also deceived his team about the true size of its users.
The countersuit by Elon Musk alleges Twitter committed fraud. Also, breach of contract and violation of a securities law in Texas, where the billionaire lives.
Musk had offered to buy the social media company earlier this year. Then claimed the platform was full of ‘spam bots.’ Twitter then sued him to force him to complete the deal. Musk ended up responding with a countersuit.
Twitters Response
Musk’s attorney argues that Twitter misinterpretations distorted the company’s value caused Musk to agree with buying the company in April. They say Twitter disclosed that it has 65 million fewer than the 235 million users they claimed, who can be shown ads.
The filing also shows that most of Twitter’s ads are only shown to a small percent of its users.
Musk’s team also accuses Twitter of fraud. They say that Twitter made too many major changes in recent months without consulting Musk. Which also includes personnel decisions and allegedly disobeying social media restrictions the government of India imposed, which is Twitter’s third largest market.
Unexpectedly, Twitter denies all of the accusations before Musk’s counterclaims surfaced.
Twitter called Musk’s claims “a story, imagined in an effort to escape a merger agreement that Musk no longer found attractive.” The company took issue with Musk’s guess of fake accounts. They say that the analysis relied on a “generic web tool” that also classifies Musk’s account as a bot.
“The result is a distortion that Musk is hoping will nonetheless make waves,” Twitter responds.
The case goes on trial on October 17 in the Delaware court. The Delaware court handles high-profile disputes between businesses.
