Elon Musk Files Response and Counterclaims to Twitter Lawsuit Over $44 Billion Deal

Elon Musk

formally responded to

Twitter Inc.’s

TWTR 1.76%

lawsuit seeking to force him to go through with his $44 billion takeover of the social-media platform and included counterclaims against the company. The filing was made confidentially and isn’t viewable by the public.

While Mr. Musk’s answer and counterclaims to Twitter’s lawsuit aren’t immediately accessible, the billionaire chief executive officer of

Tesla Inc.

TSLA 5.78%

has been vocal about his reasons for wanting to walk away from the deal and indicated in previous regulatory and court filings how he may try to make his case for terminating the merger agreement.

Mr. Musk said in a regulatory filing earlier this month that he wanted out of the deal primarily because Twitter hadn’t provided the necessary data and information he needs to assess the prevalence of fake or spam accounts.

Elon Musk has cultivated close ties with Beijing to build Tesla’s business in China. Now that he is buying Twitter and focusing on free speech, WSJ looks at how China has used the social-media platform to promote its views, and why that’s raising concerns. Photo Illustration: Sharon Shi

Twitter rejected that assertion and argued that Mr. Musk hasn’t adhered to the terms, including violating a nondisclosure agreement and then bragging about it on Twitter. The social-media company sued Mr. Musk on July 12 in Delaware Chancery Court, seeking to enforce the terms of the deal.

In the regulatory filing to end the deal, Mr. Musk’s lawyer cited concerns over Twitter’s estimates about how many of its daily users are fake or spam accounts, an issue the billionaire had raised as a concern about the deal almost three weeks after he signed it. The company has said for years that it estimates fewer than 5% of its monetizable daily active users are spam and fake accounts, a figure Mr. Musk has disputed.

Mr. Musk’s response Friday was filed hours after the judge overseeing the lawsuit against Mr. Musk set the week of Oct. 17 for a 5-day trial.

(More to come.)

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

The judge overseeing Twitter‘s lawsuit against Elon Musk over their stalled $44 billion merger set the week of Oct. 17 for a trial in Delaware Chancery Court.