Elon Musk Files Twitter Countersuit Under Seal In Delaware

Elon Musk countersued Twitter Inc. on Friday, escalating his legal fight against the social media company over his bid to walk away from the $44 billion purchase, although the lawsuit was filed confidentially, Tom Hals reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The world's richest person and Tesla Inc. CEO, Musk said on July 8 that he was junking the takeover and blamed Twitter for breaching the deal by misrepresenting the number of fake accounts on its platform.

While the 164-page document was not publicly available, under court rules a redacted version could soon be made public. Musk's lawsuit was filed hours after Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery ordered a five-day trial beginning Oct. 17 to determine if Musk can walk away from the deal.

Also on Friday, Musk was sued by a Twitter shareholder who asked the court to order the billionaire to close the deal, find that he breached his fiduciary duty to Twitter shareholders, and award damages for losses he caused.

Musk owes a fiduciary duty to Twitter's shareholders because of his 9.6% stake in the firm and because the takeover deal gives him a veto of many of the company's decisions, according to the lawsuit, which seeks class status.

The lawsuit was filed by Luigi Crispo, who owns 5,500 Twitter shares, in the Court of Chancery. Musk also faces a week-long trial in Wilmington, Delaware, beginning Oct. 24.

A Tesla shareholder is seeking to void as corporate waste and unjust enrichment the CEO's record-breaking $56 billion pay package from the electric vehicle maker.

The world's richest person and Tesla Inc. CEO, Musk said on July 8 that he was junking the takeover and blamed Twitter for breaching the deal by misrepresenting the number of fake accounts on its platform.

Twitter sued days later, calling the fake account claims a distraction and saying Musk was bound by the merger contract to close the deal at $54.20 per share. The company's shares ended on Friday at $41.61, the highest close since Musk abandoned the deal.

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