Twitter rejects Musk's claims that he was hoodwinked

Twitter Inc. on Thursday dismissed Elon Musk's claims in a Delaware court filing that he was hoodwinked into signing the deal to buy the social media company, saying that it was "implausible and contrary to fact."

Musk made the claims in a countersuit that he filed under seal last Friday, which was made public on Thursday.

"According to Musk, he — the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers — was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger agreement. That story is as implausible and contrary to fact as it sounds," the filing released by Twitter on Thursday said.

Twitter's filing is the latest salvo in what is building up to be a major legal showdown between the world's richest person and the social media giant.

The San Francisco-based company is pushing to resolve months of uncertainty over its fate as Musk tries to walk away from the deal for what he says is Twitter's misrepresentation of fake accounts.

Musk agreed to buy Twitter on April 25, but sought to back out on July 8 without paying a $1 billion breakup fee, citing Twitter's failure to provide details about the prevalence of bot and spam accounts.

Twitter sued him four days later, accusing him of sabotaging the deal because it no longer served his interests, and demanding he complete it. An October 17 trial is scheduled.

(Reuters)