The legal battle between billionaire Elon Musk and Twitter escalated last Friday (5) after the businessman accused the social network of “fraud” in a $44 billion purchase deal he intends to back out of.

Musk wants to cancel his $44 billion social media deal — Photo: Reproduction/@ElonMusk/ND

In response to a lawsuit by Twitter that wants to force Musk to buy the company, the billionaire filed an indictment in Delaware Specialized Business Court against Twitter for providing false data about the number of monetized accounts (true for generating income). according to AFP.

– Legal battle –

Twitter and the richest man in the world have clashed in a legal battle in Delaware.

Now, Musk’s lawyers are accusing Twitter of “masking the truth” about the number of monetized daily users, which the social network estimates at 238 million people.

That’s about 65 million fewer, according to Musk’s legal representatives, with “the majority of ads” being delivered to only “less than 16 million users, which is a small fraction” of what Twitter is reporting.

“Twitter feverishly blocked the spread of information in a desperate attempt to keep (Elon Musk) from discovering fraud,” the complaint says.

In mid-July, Twitter sued Musk in the Delaware Court of Chancery, a court that specializes in corporate law, to force him to comply with the settlement. The process will start on October 17th.

Two weeks later, the billionaire head of Tesla and SpaceX responded with a “confidential” lawsuit.

Musk signed the purchase agreement for $54.20 a share after he acquired a stake in the Twitter social network he frequently uses.

In late July, he unilaterally terminated that agreement, claiming that the San Francisco-based company had lied about the proportion of automated accounts and spam on its platform.

– Differences –

Musk accuses the Twitter board of hiding the true proportion of fake accounts, which the social network estimates is less than 5% of existing ones.

White papers submitted by the platform to US stock market authorities (SEC) “contain numerous false statements and omissions that misrepresent Twitter’s value and led to Elon Musk agreeing to buy the company at an inflated price,” his lawyers say.

They add that Twitter’s strategy was to “play hide-and-seek” to keep the buyer from “learning the truth” for as long as possible.

Twitter indicates that the businessman facilitated the negotiations and that the agreement never mentioned fake accounts. His lawyers denounce “an attempt to terminate a contract that Musk no longer finds interesting after the stock market crash.”

Amid general market weakness in recent months, falling social media ad revenue due to the economic climate and public criticism of Musk, Twitter shares fell to around $32 on July 11.

Shares of the social network rose 3.56% to $42.52 on Friday. On the other hand, Tesla shares fell 6.63% to $864.51.