Twitter’s parent company X Corp is suing Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a law firm that billed $100 million for “multi-month” consulting services (forcing Elon Musk to buy the network when I had doubts). X Corp intends to question the legitimacy of these payments, as they were made minutes before the closing of the transaction and do not reflect the actual volume of services provided.
Former Twitter executives hired lawyers from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 2022 to encourage Elon Musk to close the $44 billion deal. At the time, Musk tried to back out of the deal, raising objections to some of the data presented in the company’s financial statements, recalls Business Insider.
The specialists estimated their assistance at $100 million, of which the lawyers’ hourly pay was $16 million, and another $84.3 million was labeled a “success fee” on the bill.
It is noteworthy that even then the former head of Twitter and board member Martha Lane Fox expressed her attitude to the amount indicated in the documents with the capacious phrase “Oh my God” (a screenshot of the letter has been preserved ).
“Despite initial shock, Twitter board members voted to approve Wachtell’s bad faith and excessive compensation,” according to a new lawsuit from X Corp.
Musk will complete the purchase of the network on October 27. According to the lawsuit filed by X Corp, the disputed $84 million was transferred to the law firm minutes before the deal was to close. The corporation’s lawyers are certain that the payment of this part of the fee is illegal.
“Fully aware that no one with a financial interest in Twitter’s financial well-being was looking after current operations, Wachtell arranged for the efficient replenishment of his pockets with funds from the company’s treasury while the keys were transferred to Musk’s side.” says the lawsuit. alleges
Personally, Musk on his Twitter account has already achieved to accuse a law firm specializing in institutionalized corruption.
Neither former Twitter executives nor representatives from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are commenting to Business Insider. And the publication reminds that court costs are not the only account that Musk disputes.
Since the acquisition of the company, the businessman has refused to pay the expenses of some former employees, the rent of the company’s offices and even before the bills for Google’s cloud services.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
