Elon Musk files countersuit in legal battle against Twitter over his abandoned $44bn deal

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has now filed a countersuit against the microblogging platform, Twitter, thus escalating a legal battle for his decision to walk away from the $44 billion takeover agreement. According to a report by the New York Post, Musk's legal team filed the counter lawsuit in Delaware’s Court of Chancery on Friday. Though the content of the lawsuit was not immediately made public as it was filed just before the deadline of 5 PM, the report mentioned the court document would be available in the public domain by next week. "I have reviewed the counterclaims and declare that the matter contained therein insofar as it concerns my acts and deeds is true, and insofar as it relates to the acts and deeds of any other person, I believe it to be true," NYP quoted the excerpts of the documents signed by the SpaceX CEO.

As the reports of Musk's legal action against the microblogging site hit the headline on Friday, its shares plunged by 0.3%. Quoting an investment researcher and former corporate attorney, J.B. Heaton, The Post reported the court documents were handed over to the attorneys in a sealed envelope as both parties agreed to follow a non-disclosure agreement and other restrictions. "It’s almost certainly because they are including facts that they have gained under an expectation of confidentiality from Twitter," Heaton said.  Moreover, the Wall Street Journal reported the documents filed by Musk, including a prominent quote from American business magnate Warren Buffett which says, "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked."

Why did Musk walk out of the Twitter deal?

Nearly three months after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk offered a whopping deal of $44 billion to acquire Twitter after a lot of speculations and uncertainties, he finally abandoned the deal, citing an enormous number of fake accounts on the social media platform. In June this year, Twitter reportedly agreed to share its full information on spam "bots accounts"-- automated accounts that typically promote scams and misinformation. However, the world's richest man contended with the data and finally walked away from the deal. As per Twitter, it has around 229 million accounts, of which, around 5% are fake or bots. But the Tesla CEO has disputed that 20% or more are bogus, without contending any evidence. On several occasions, Musk was vocal about the fake accounts on Twitter, but several tech pundits claimed it was just an attempt to reach the final deal at a much lesser amount or even to walk away entirely.

What is a bogus or fake account and why has it been problematic for years?

The problem of fake accounts is well-known to Twitter and its investors. These accounts are usually created to amplify messages and spread misinformation. Since the onset of the social media giant, it has been problematic for both Twitter and the advertisers. Advertisers rely on the number of users provided by social media platforms to determine where they will spend money. If the client pays for the advertisement, he looks for genuine users on the platform in order to accomplish the motive of promoting products or services on the social media giant. On the other hand, if the accounts are not genuine or fake, it may be possible that the advertiser achieves its goal in terms of ad viewership but it would not reflect in the sale of the product. 

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