Twitter’s parent company sued a major corporate law firm on Friday, alleging improper payments related to Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the social media company last year.
The $90 million payment Twitter made to merger and acquisition giants Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz amounted to “unjust enrichment” and should be repaid, the paper said. lawsuitCompany X, the parent company, filed a petition in the San Francisco Superior Court.
According to the complaint, Wachtell-Lipton received Musk, the owner of Company X, “with funds from the company’s cash register during the handover of the keys.”
Twitter’s former executives hired Wachtell Lipton after Mr. Musk tried to terminate the company’s deal last year. He failed and the acquisition was completed in October.
Wachtell Lipton and a Twitter spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.
Twitter disputes other fees related to Musk’s acquisition of the company. Advisory firm Innisfree M&A filed a $1.9 million lawsuit against Twitter in February for unpaid claims. Joele Frank, a public relations firm, said: sued twitter In May, it claimed that approximately $830,498 had not been paid for services provided under the contract.
Wachtell-Lipton is one of Wall Street’s best-known law firms and has advised on high-profile deals, including the failed attempt to take Musk’s electric car company Tesla private in 2018. rice field. The firm collects hefty fees and solidifies its position.list of law firms best profit per partner.
The company has been sued before. In 2018, activist investor Carl Icahn sued Wachtel Lipton over its handling of a hostile 2012 attempt to buy CVR Energy. The lawsuit was dismissed.
Twitter’s board and executives said Wachtell Lipton and one of his lawyers, William Sabitt, had succeeded in getting Musk to comply with the company’s purchase agreement, according to documents filed with the lawsuit on Friday. It is said to have approved a payment of $1,000,000.
The lawsuit alleges that Twitter’s former executives and board violated their fiduciary duties by approving the payments. The lawsuit alleges that Twitter’s board rushed to reach a deal with Musk but did not act “prudently” or “informedly.”
Wachtell-Lipton was transferred most of the $90 million fee just 10 minutes before the transaction was completed in October, according to the complaint. Within minutes of Wachtell-Lipton receiving the transfer, Musk fired some of Twitter’s top executives, including its chief legal officer and general counsel, according to the lawsuit.
Ewen Lu contributed to the report.
