Twitter sues Elon Musk to force him to purchase company

Twitter sued Elon Musk to force him to purchase the social media giant for $44 billion after Musk stated last week that he plans to walk away from the deal.

Despite deflecting the company's legal threat with humor on Monday, Musk now faces a lawsuit in Chancery Court in Delaware, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The case will determine whether Musk must purchase the social media platform or if Twitter violated its requirement to give the Tesla CEO data about fake accounts, known as bots, on the platform.

Musk has repeatedly stated that he does not believe Twitter's claim that roughly 5% of its active users are bots.

After news about the lawsuit broke, Musk responded with humor again.

"Oh the irony lol," he wrote on Twitter.

Twitter's attorneys wrote in a letter Sunday that Musk's "purported termination is invalid and wrongful."

"The Agreement is not terminated," the attorneys argued. "Twitter demands that Mr. Musk and the other Musk Parties comply with their obligations..."

The company also said it "will continue to provide information reasonably requested by Mr. Musk."

If Musk does not follow through with the purchase, it could be disastrous for Twitter. The comapny's stock closed at $34.06 on Tuesday, far below Musk's offer of $54.20 a share.