Twitter shares tumble in pre-market trading as Elon Musk laughs at legal action

Billionaire Tesla chief posts a meme showing how he feels about looming court battle

Mr Musk withdrew from the $44bn Twitter deal on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Twitter shares fell almost 7 per cent in pre-market trading on Monday following Elon Musk's decision to pull the plug on his $44 billion offer to acquire the social media company.

The company's stock closed 5 per cent lower at $36.81 on Friday, its lowest close since May 24, as Mr Musk withdrew from the deal owing to lack of information on spam activity, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed.

He responded in typical fashion on Monday to potential legal action from Twitter, posting a meme on the platform showing him laughing increasingly through various stages of his failed deal, with his seemingly funniest moment coming if Twitter has to disclose bot, or spam account, data in court.

His offer in April at $54.20 per share was eventually approved after Twitter "committed" to the deal, with terms including a $1bn breakup fee if the merger did not go through.

Twitter responded on Friday with a short statement, saying: "We are committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr Musk and plan to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery."

Twitter has hired law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to sue Mr Musk and force him to complete the deal, according to Bloomberg. The microblogging site aims to file a legal suit early this week, it said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Twitter said last week that it removes a million spam accounts each day, and reiterated that they were well below 5 per cent of users who are served advertising.

Mr Musk unveils a new all-wheel-drive version of the Model S car in Hawthorne, California, in 2014. Reuters

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. Getty Images

Mr Musk with music producer Quincy Jones. AFP

The wealthiest person in the world with a worth of $274.3 billion, Mr Musk was named 'Person of the Year' by 'Time' magazine in 2021. Getty Images

Focus on Mr Musk's taxes grew last year as Tesla achieved a rarefied $1 trillion in market value. Reuters

The billionaire has hit back, saying he does not draw a salary from either SpaceX or Tesla, and pays an effective tax rate of 53 per cent on stock options he exercises. AFP

Then US president Barack Obama speaks to Mr Musk on a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2010. Reuters

Mr Musk during a television interview after Tesla's initial public offering at the Nasdaq market in New York, in 2010. Reuters

With former wife Talulah Riley at the 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards in London. Getty Images

With Japan's former prime minister Shinzo Abe after a test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D in Palo Alto, California, in 2015. Reuters

Mr Musk during the 67th International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016. EPA

From left: SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, Corning chief executive Wendell Weeks, then US president Donald Trump and Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky during a meeting at the White House. AFP

Mr Musk and former wife Grimes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in 2018. AFP

Mr Musk leaves a court in New York City, in 2019, after a hearing in a lawsuit brought against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Getty Images

A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft is seen before Mr Musk gives an update on the company's Mars rocket Starship in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2019. Reuters

Mr Musk at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, last year. EPA

Dancing onstage during a delivery event for Tesla's China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai. Reuters

Mikey Day as a lawyer, Cecily Strong as a judge, and host Elon Musk as Wario during the "Wario" sketch on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', in May. Getty Images

Mr Musk with Armin Laschet, CDU party federal chairman and prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, talk during a tour of the plant of the future foundry of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide, near Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

However, in May, a study by Israeli cyber security company Cheq found that up to 12 per cent of visits to Twitter were from bots.

Some Twitter influencers have claimed that Mr Musk's decision to pull out of the deal may have just been a manoeuvre for him to sell $8.5bn in Tesla stock options that were about to expire.