Elon Musk asks Twitter for proof of real accounts

Elon Musk said that if Twitter could provide its method of sampling 100 accounts and how it confirmed that the accounts are real, his $44 billion deal to buy the company should proceed on its original terms.

“However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not,” Musk tweeted early on Saturday.

In response to a Twitter user asking whether the US SEC was probing “dubious claims” by the company, Musk tweeted “Good question, why aren’t they?”.

Twitter declined to comment on the tweet when contacted by Reuters.

Twitter on Thursday dismissed Musk’s claim that he was hoodwinked into signing the deal to buy the social media company, saying that it was “implausible and contrary to fact”.

“According to Musk, he - the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers - was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger agreement. That story is as implausible and contrary to fact as it sounds,” the filing released by Twitter on Thursday said.

Musk filed a countersuit Twitter on July 29, escalating his legal fight against the social media company over his bid to walk away from the $44 billion purchase.

On Friday, Elon Musk has accused Twitter of fraud, alleging the social media platform misled him about key aspects of its business before he agreed to a $44 billion buyout, as their court fight heats up.

The Tesla boss lodged the claim as he fights back against Twitter’s lawsuit seeking to force him to close the deal, which he has tried to cancel.

Musk argued in the filing to a Delaware court that the number of users actually shown advertising on the platform is about 65 million lower than the firm’s 238 million figure.

“Twitter’s disclosures have slowly unraveled, with Twitter frantically closing the gates on information in a desperate bid to prevent the Musk Parties from uncovering its fraud,” the claim alleged.

Musk is asking the court to free him from the agreement and make Twitter pay him an amount in damages to be determined at trial, which set to open on October 17.

Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which Musk has said should allow any legal speech -- an absolutist position that has sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.

In its own filing, Twitter rejected the mercurial billionaire’s argument, calling it “as implausible and contrary to fact as it sounds.” “According to Musk, he -- the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers -- was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger agreement,” Twitter said.

Musk last week filed his countersuit, which was finally made public on Thursday.

The entrepreneur accused Twitter of not just deceiving him, but also of lying to US market regulators.

Musk relied on Twitter’s filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission because he thought doing his own diligence -- digging into the company’s value -- “costly and inefficient”, his court claim said.

Analyst Dan Ives said the social media platform’s share price gave a clear idea of how investors think the fight will end.

“The countersuit Musk filed against Twitter raised some interesting points, however legally speaking the Street views this more of a sign of weakness than strength for Musk,” he told AFP.

Twitter shares closed up 3.5 per cent at $42.52 on Friday, while Tesla shares ended down more than 6.5 per cent.

 The legal fight is gathering speed as preparations have begun for the five-day trial in Delaware’s Chancery Court, which specializes in complex, high-stakes business world battles. This battle flows from Musk wooing Twitter’s board with a $54.20 per-share offer in April, but then in July announcing he was terminating their agreement because the firm had misled him regarding its tally of fake and spam accounts.

Twitter has stuck by its estimates that bots make up fewer than five per cent of users.

The social media platform told the court that Musk’s claim that the false account figure tops 10 per cent is “untenable.” Twitter also disputed Musk’s assertion he has the right to walk away if its bot count is found to be wrong, since he didn’t seek information on that topic when he made the buyout offer.

The company accuses Musk of contriving a story to escape a merger agreement that he no longer found attractive.

“Twitter has complied in every respect with the merger agreement,” the company said in a court filing.