Elon Musk’s attorneys have filed suit against the law firm that represented Twitter when Musk was trying to buy the company last year, claiming an overcharge when the company was transitioning to new ownership.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen, and Katz, which was Twitter’s firm prior to Musk’s acquisition, racked up a $90 million “last minute” legal bill, the lawsuit claims.
“Fully aware that nobody with an economic interest in Twitter’s financial well-being was minding the store, Wachtell arranged to effectively line its pockets with funds from the company cash register while the keys were being handed over to the Musk Parties,” Musk’s lawsuit said.
Wachtell represented Twitter after Musk tried to pull his initial offer to take Twitter private for $44 billion. The deal eventually closed in November 2022, with Wachtell receiving a $90 million fee for its work.
X Corp., Twitter’s holding company, is seeking repayment of “any associated excess fee payment” and attorneys’ fees associated with the cost of litigation. Musk’s company is represented by Reid Collins & Tsai, a litigation boutique based in Austin, Texas.
Attorneys at Reid Collins and Wachtell have not spoken publicly on the lawsuit.
