Elon Musk’s Twitter lawsuit: what you need to know

Elon Musk did not become the world's wealthiest person through a lack of confidence.

But the Tesla CEO revealed on Tuesday that he had sold $6.9bn (£5.7bn) worth of shares in the carmaker, in case he loses his attempt to walk away from a $44bn takeover of Twitter.

Twitter is suing Musk in Delaware over his abandonment of the deal and wants to make him buy the company.

In a countersuit released last week, Musk put his side of the argument. According to him: Twitter misled investors; it breached the agreement by failing to provide enough information on spam accounts; another breach occurred when Twitter failed to consult with him on business moves such as firing senior employees; and its misstatement of user numbers constitutes a material adverse effect, which substantially alters Twitter's value and therefore invalidates the deal agreement.

Here is a breakdown of Musk's suit.

There is $44bn at stake and the language in Musk's countersuit is just as punchy as Twitter's in the original lawsuit, when the company described his behaviour as "a model of bad faith". In the preliminary statement Twitter is accused of making financial disclosures to the US financial watchdog that were "far from true".

"Instead, they contain numerous, material misrepresentations or omissions that distort Twitter's value and caused the Musk parties to agree to acquire the company at an inflated price. Twitter's complaint, filled with personal attacks against Musk and gaudy rhetoric more directed at a media audience than this court, is nothing more than an attempt to distract from these misrepresentations," said the lawsuit.