According to court records, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has subpoenaed his buddy and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in an attempt to back out of his $44 billion agreement to purchase the firm Dorsey helped build.
Twitter and Musk are scheduled to appear in court in Delaware on October 17 to assess if Twitter can compel Musk to complete the transaction.
Twitter has subpoenaed a slew of Musk-connected tech investors and entrepreneurs, including notable venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and PayPal co-founder David Sacks.
Musk claims that Twitter failed to give appropriate information regarding the amount of false, or "spam bot," Twitter accounts, and that the company violated its contract requirements by removing key executives and laying off a large number of staff. Musk's team anticipates that further information regarding the bot numbers will be discovered during the trial court discovery process, during which both parties must hand over evidence.
Twitter claims Musk's reasons for withdrawing are only a cover for buyer's remorse. Shortly after Musk agreed to pay 38% more than Twitter's stock price, the stock market crashed, and shares of Tesla, where Musk's personal fortune is concentrated, lost more than $100 billion in value.
Last week, the subpoena was served. It requests records and conversations relating to the transaction, as well as information on the impact of fraudulent or spam accounts on Twitter's business and daily active user measurement.
On Monday, a lawyer for Dorsey did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment.