Twitter has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk in the Delaware Court of Chancery over his refusal to buy the social network for $44 billion. The company requires the American businessman to complete the merger at an agreed price of $54.2 per share.

“Clearly, Musk believes that he, unlike any other party subject to Delaware contract law, is free to change his mind, destroy the company, disrupt its operations, destroy shareholder value and leave,” the complaint says.

The social network accuses Musk of a "long list" of violations of the merger agreement that "cast a shadow on Twitter and its business." The lawsuit also indicates for the first time that since the announcement of the deal, the company has increased the number of layoffs.

Musk pulled out of the Twitter acquisition deal on July 9. In a letter from his representative, sent to the company, it is said that the reason for this was "a material violation of several provisions of the agreement." In particular, Twitter was unable or refused to provide information about the fake accounts of the platform. Twitter itself claims it didn't do so as it feared Musk would create a rival platform after pulling out of the acquisition. The lawsuit also states that on May 16, Musk responded to tweets by the CEO of the social network Parag Agrawal about the company's efforts to combat spam accounts, emoji with the image of feces.

Twitter asked the court to schedule a trial for mid-September. Musk also responded to the news about the lawsuit with a tweet.