The blue bird bites back at the billionaire

Musk continues to tweet on the platform he doesn’t want to own. (Photo: Screen Rant)

Introducing the challenger from San Francisco, California: a multinational social networking service with approximately 450 million monthly active users, asserting its supposed $44 billion buyout, everyone’s favorite community-shared echo chamber, Twitter.

And Twitter’s opponent from Transvaal, South Africa: the Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla, and currently the richest man in the world. Looking to bail on his deal with Twitter, allegedly breaching his agreement to purchase the blue bird company, Elon Musk.

Two will enter the ring, one will leave victorious. Who will reign supreme in this billion-dollar battle? But first, let’s take a look at how we got here shall we.

Playing the blame game

There are speculations about Musk’s sudden decision to double-back on the purchase. Last July 8, he claimed that Twitter failed to provide sufficient information on the number of spam and bot accounts it has.

Contrary to the billionaire’s claims, Twitter defended that it has made a “firehose” of public raw data available to Musk. However, Musk’s legal team argued that he instead received some information that was incomplete, unusable, and lacking.

The social media company countered that it could not completely identify the amount of spam in the interest of respecting users’ data privacy. It could not disclose private data such as IP addresses, phone numbers, and location tags—which usually aid in distinguishing real accounts from fake ones.

Twitter believes around 5% of the accounts on the platform are fake—which the company has made known to the public for years in its regular filings. Still, Musk did not take kindly to this alleged amendment and announced to back out of his Twitter bargain. 

The tech mogul’s legal team declared that Musk “reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement.”

And Musk (as he does) went to Twitter, to poke fun at the very company he pulled out from buying. If it seems like harmless playfulness, think again. Consider how he shares his views with his 100 million devoted followers, which make up almost a quarter of the entire population of monthly Twitter users.

The blue bird not backing down

Twitter could have pushed for the $1 billion breakup fee both parties originally agreed to under these kinds of circumstances. However, given Musk’s attempt to paint the situation as a breach of agreement, some speculate that the $226 billion-valued business magnate is looking to get off without paying a dime.

Some have suggested that Musk’s actions simply mask buyer’s remorse over a costly and leveraged deal, during a wave of tech stock pullouts.

The social media platform has insisted that Musk is not legally entitled to call the deal off without a solid reason, and that it has complied with their business agreements thus far. 

Just as the old saying goes, “if you want peace, prepare for war.” And Twitter seems to be locked and loaded. 

According to news sources, Twitter plans to file a lawsuit this week in Delaware and has already hired two key lawyers for its team—co-chair of the Litigation Department of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, William Savitt and former Chancellor of the Delaware Chancery Court, Leo Strine. The two have even filed an official letter stating that Musk’s withdrawal is not legally valid.

Biting off more than it can chew?

While Twitter seems confident in its legal stance, it’s taking everything it has got to stand its ground. 

The company has already announced mass lay-offs and cost-cutting measures. Morale is low and job uncertainty is high for the remaining employees who didn’t even want Musk as their boss in the first place.

These business dealings have a lot of Twitter’s staff (understandably) on edge as Twitter’s general counsel, Sean Edgett, has told staffers to refrain from Tweeting or sharing commentary about the merger, and that management would be “very limited on what we can share.”

While it’s unclear who is set to win the legal battle, Twitter is already at a handicap—as it continues to cut its losses during this billion-dollar title match.