The company's lawyers stated that Musk "invents representations Twitter never made and then attempts to use, selectively, the substantial confidential data Twitter provided him to conjure a breach of those supposed representations."
Digital Desk: Elon Musk stated on Saturday that his $44 billion deal with Twitter could proceed if the company can clarify how it determines whether user accounts are owned by "spam bots" or by actual individuals.
The social networking business was forced to bring a legal action against the billionaire CEO of Tesla last month after he tried to renege on his April purchase agreement. Musk countersued, alleging that Twitter had misled his team about the size of its user base and other issues that amounted to contract fraud and fraud by false representation.
Both parties are preparing for a trial in a Delaware court in October.
Early on Saturday, Musk tweeted, "If Twitter just discloses their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they're proven to be real, the purchase should proceed on original terms." However, if their SEC filings turn out to be materially inaccurate, then it shouldn't.
Then Musk, who has more than 100 million followers on Twitter, urged a "public conversation about the Twitter bot proportion" with Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.
On Saturday, Twitter declined to respond. Less than 5% of user accounts, with a caveat that this number could be higher, are believed to be false or spam, according to the company's estimates, which it has routinely provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission. When Musk agreed to the April merger agreement, he gave up his right to additional due diligence.
As a result of the deteriorating market conditions and the fact that the acquisition no longer serves Musk's interests, Twitter has contended in court that Musk is purposefully seeking to kill the agreement and is using the bot question as a justification. His counterclaims were characterised as an invented tale "contradicted by the evidence and common sense" in a court document filed on Thursday.
The company's lawyers stated that Musk "invents representations Twitter never made and then attempts to use, selectively, the substantial confidential data Twitter provided him to conjure a breach of those supposed representations."
While Musk has made an effort to keep the conversation on bot disclosures, Twitter's legal department has been conducting extensive research on a number of tech investors and business owners connected to Musk. This research has resulted in a broad subpoena that may reveal some of these individuals' private communications with the Tesla CEO.
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