World

Twitter investors sue Elon Musk and platform over takeover bid

May 28, 2022 9:00 am

[Source: RNZ]

Twitter investors are suing Elon Musk and the social media platform over the handling of the billionaire’s US$44 billion bid for the company.

The case alleges he violated California corporate laws in a number of ways.

It accuses the Tesla boss of “wrongful conduct” as his “false statements and market manipulation have created ‘chaos’ at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco”.

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Twitter shares are around 27 percent lower than Musk’s $54.20 offer price.

The lawsuit also claimed Musk benefited financially by delaying the disclosure of his significant stake in Twitter, and his plan to become a board member of the company.

It also claimed that several tweets posted by Musk, who is a regular Twitter user with more than 95m followers, were “misleading”.

It included a post in which Musk said his takeover bid for the social media firm was on hold because of his doubts over the number of fake accounts on the platform.

The tweet on 13 May “constituted an effort to manipulate the market for Twitter shares as he knew about the fake accounts,” the lawsuit said.