Twitter has reportedly declined Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s renewed offer to purchase the platform for $44 billion in an effort to keep the trial going.
ABC News reported Thursday that the Tesla CEO’s attorneys claim that the company “will not take yes for an answer.”
"Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation, recklessly putting the deal at risk and gambling with their stockholders' interests," the report said Musk's attorneys alleged in a court filing.
Musk’s attorneys asked the judge to stay the upcoming Oct. 17 trial to Oct. 28–the date when he expects to close the deal, according to ABC News. Twitter reportedly opposes the motion over concerns that Musk will not be able to acquire financing in time.
Another attorney for Musk, however, also said that Twitter is the one holding up the deal.
"Twitter offered Mr. Musk billions off the transaction price. Mr. Musk refused because Twitter attempted to put certain self-serving conditions on the deal. Any statement to the contrary is a lie," Alex Spirol said in a statement according to the report.
Twitter sued Musk after he backed out of the deal and claimed that the company was not being forthcoming to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about the number of bot accounts it has.
In August, NewsBusters reported that Musk intended to go through with the deal if Twitter provided evidence of its claims to the SEC.
“If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not," he said.
Musk initially expressed interest in acquiring the platform after he suggested that it was not upholding the principles of free speech. "Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy," Musk tweeted March 26, 2022.
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