Mathieu Shapiro Discusses the Prospect of a Legal Battle between Twitter and Musk in an Interview with CBS News

Obermayer managing partner Mathieu Shapiro was interviewed by CBS News in connection with the prospect of a prolonged legal fight between Twitter and billionaire Elon Musk, who says he’s pulling out of a buyout deal, leaving Twitter’s future in doubt. Musk claimed that Twitter refused to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts it has and that Musk’s advisors determined the true incidence of bots on the platform is “wildly higher” than Twitter claims. 

Generally, acquisition agreements are exceedingly difficult to get out of.  “Once you’re into the world where you already have the agreement, it’s rare for people to try to pull out,” said Mathieu. “As a basic premise, the Delaware court will want to enforce that merger agreement, and that will be their starting place.”

Musk’s efforts to pull out hinge on the question of how many bots and fake accounts are on the platform.

“Twitter makes money either through ads or selling information about what people are doing and looking at. Each of those things is dependent on the number of real people” using the platform, Mathieu said. “That goes to the heart of what is [T]witter’s essential business.”