These 2 tweets may end up costing Elon Musk $44 billion as Twitter lawyers share damaging tweets in court
Miranda Rights, also known as Miranda Warning is a well-known statement that reads: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney.” It now appears that a team of Twitter lawyers may be using the same in a lawsuit again Tesla CEO Elon Musk over the failed $44 billion buyout deal.
Last Friday, Elon Musk said he was backing out of the deal to buy Twitter for $4 billion over fake accounts and spam bots. In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Elon Musk said he’s seeking to end the $44 billion deal, citing a lack of sufficient information on fake accounts and spam bots.
Immediately after the announcement, Twitter filed a lawsuit against Musk for failure to consummate the $44 billion deal. Twitter’s chairman, Bret Taylor, also vowed that the social giant is pursuing legal action against Tesla CEO Elon Musk over the botched $44 billion takeover deal. In a post, Taylor wrote: “The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk…”
Then on Monday morning, Musk responded to the lawsuit early with a laughing meme below. The meme has a series of four photos of the Telsa founder laughing with captions that read: “They said I couldn’t buy Twitter; Then they wouldn’t disclose bot info; Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court; Now they have to disclose bot info in court.” But now, the tweet, along with other tweets of Chuck Norris playing chess, may cost Elon Musk $44 billion.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 11, 2022
According to a court filing, Twitter attorneys accused Musk of making light of the deal. Citing the two meme tweets posted by Musk on Monday, Twitter lawyers said:
“For Musk, it would seem, Twitter, in the interest of its stockholders, the transaction Must agreed to, and the court process to enforce it all constitute an elaborate joke.”
The court proceedings are still ongoing and many observers said the case may drag on until the end of the year unless the two parties decided to settle out of court.
On April 25, Twitter agreed to sell the company to Elon Musk for $44 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing the proposed transaction.
The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter. Musk needed to use his Tesla stock to raise $21 billion in equity to fund his takeover of the social media giant.
Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter.