Elon Musk argues he has the right to pull out of Twitter deal

As Elon Musk spars with Twitter over the company's reluctance to release more information about its user base, the billionaire owner of Tesla is considering the possibility of pulling out of the $41.4 billion deal.

"This is a clear material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement," a letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday said.

In it, lawyers representing Musk argue that Twitter has not met the requirements set by the merger agreement, which would entitle Musk to seek and obligate the company to provide “any reasonable business purpose related to the consummation of the transaction."

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The letter said that Twitter has only released limited data about its users and that its "latest offer" only included information about the company's testing methodologies.

Musk has previously stated that he was putting the deal "on hold," as he looked to confirm reports that less than 5% of Twitter accounts are spammy or fake.

"At this point, Mr. Musk believes Twitter is transparently refusing to comply with its obligations under the merger agreement, which is causing further suspicion that the company is withholding the requested data due to concern for what Mr. Musk’s own analysis of that data will uncover," the letter also says.

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Catarina is a reporter for The Block based in New York City. Before joining the team, she covered local news at Patch.com and at the New York Daily News. She started her career in Lisbon, Portugal, where she worked for publications such as Público and Sábado. She graduated from NYU with a MA in Journalism. Feel free to email any comments or tips to [email protected] or to reach out on Twitter (@catarinalsm).