Twitter wants to sue Elon Musk for giving up his deal

Twitter's message to Elon Musk after he attempts to bail on his $44 billion deal to buy the company: We will see you in court.

"The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement," tweeted Twitter's chairman, Bret Taylor, less than an hour after Musk's legal team said he wanted out of the deal in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery."

If you've been following the twists and turns of this deal, it's no surprise that Twitter plans to put up a fight. Shortly after Musk said he would buy Twitter and take it private, he began laying the groundwork for why he could back down, claiming that Twitter was not communicating about the number of bots on the platform. Twitter has insisted to Musk and the public that it has bots under control and that it intends to enforce the merger agreement.

When Musk and Twitter first signed the deal, both parties agreed to pay a $1 billion termination fee in the event either of them backed out for specific reasons. Musk has agreed to pay the fee if he cannot secure the funds he needs to complete the acquisition, which, so far, he has not done. And Twitter agreed to pay the fee if it found another buyer or if its board recommended that shareholders vote against Musk's offer.

Given that Musk claims that Twitter violated the terms of the agreement by failing to provide critical business information related to the bots, it is clear that he is trying to get out without paying anything. The breakup fee is not mentioned in the SEC filing on Friday outlining his rationale for pulling out of the deal.

With Twitter saying it will fight to get Musk to pay, this already crazy deal could soon become a protracted and complicated legal battle. In an internal memo to Twitter employees sent Friday and obtained by The Verge, the company's general counsel, Sean Edgett, told employees that "refrain from Tweeting, Slacking, or sharing any commentary about the merger," and that management would be "very limited on what we can share." "I know this is an uncertain time, and we appreciate your patience and ongoing commitment to the important work we have underway," Edgett wrote.