O twitter filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk on Tuesday (12) for breach of a $44 billion contract under which he pledged to acquire the company, calling the tycoon’s exit strategy “a model of hypocrisy,” according to court documents.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. state of Delaware, asks the court to oblige the billionaire to honor the agreement he signed to acquire Twitter, arguing that no amount of economic compensation can repair the damage already done to the tech company.

Musk poked fun at the company on Twitter over the weekend. Photo: Reproduction/ND

“Musk’s behavior confirms that he wants to avoid a binding contract he voluntarily signed and hurt Twitter in the process,” the company’s lawsuit says.

“Twitter has suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable damage as a result of the breach of contract by the defendants,” he continues.

Twitter shares rose slightly in the secondary market when the news broke.

Analysts note that Musk’s announcement of the cancellation of the purchase puts the company in a difficult position at a difficult moment.

After weeks of threats, Musk withdrew the buyout offer late last week, accusing Twitter of “misleading” claims about the number of fake accounts on the platform, according to a letter from his lawyers to US market regulators.

In his first public statement since his announcement, Musk took to Twitter over the weekend to ridicule the company.

“They said I can’t buy Twitter. Then they did not want to disclose information about the bots. Now they want to force me to buy Twitter in court. Now they must reveal the bots in court,” he tweeted, accompanied by a laughing image.

The termination of the purchase agreement, which Musk signed in April, sets the stage for a later lengthy legal battle with Twitter, which initially opposed the sale of the company to a businessman.

Twitter defends its control of fake accounts and has vowed to force Musk to comply with the agreement, which included a $1 billion fine for non-compliance.

According to the platform, the number of fake accounts is less than 5%, a percentage questioned by Musk, who believes it is much higher.