Twitter hires law firm to sue Elon Musk after he pulls out of 44B deal: sources – National

Twitter Inc. TWTR.N has hired US law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP to sue Elon Musk and force him to complete the social media company’s $44 billion acquisition, according to the Matter familiar people.

Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla TSLA.O, canceled his deal on Friday, saying Twitter had failed to provide information about fake accounts on the platform, prompting Twitter chairman Bret Taylor to promise litigation.

Twitter plans to file a lawsuit in Delaware earlier this week, people familiar with the matter said.

Twitter declined comment, while the law firm did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment after hours.

Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was one of the legal counsels for Musk’s plan to privatize Tesla in 2018. Musk tweeted that funding was “secured” for a $72 billion deal to privatize Tesla, but made no offer.

Musk and Tesla each paid $20 million in fines, and Musk resigned as Tesla chairman to address SEC claims that he had defrauded investors.

Twitter’s existing legal team includes Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Diane Craft)