As Twitter shareholders flee the stock on news Elon Musk is backing out of his deal to buy the company, the billionaire turned to Chuck Norris

On Friday came the news, on Monday came the response, as investors fled the troubled stock.

For months Elon Musk had demanded proof of just how many spam or fake accounts make up Twitter’s user base.

Then last Friday afternoon, his lawyers told Twitter the deal was off.

Twitter plans to take legal action to make the deal go ahead and has hired a top US law firm to fight Elon Musk, walking right into his trap.

Mr Musk tweeted this meme of himself, saying Twitter would need to “disclose bot info” in court.

The multi-billionaire then tweeted a picture showing American actor Chuck Norris at a chessboard, with a follow up post saying “Chuckmate”.

Twitter’s share price fell on Wall St, well below the $54.20 a share takeover price agreed to by Elon Musk and the board in April.

It is the first time investors have been able to react to Mr Musk announcement that he wanted to pull out of the deal. 

Why did Elon Musk cancel the Twitter deal?

Billion dollar exit

At stake, a billion dollar exit clause – or potentially a chance for Musk to force a better deal.

The original merger agreement includes a $1bn (£830m) break-up fee, but instead of pushing for Mr Musk to pay the sum, Twitter wants the businessman to compete the deal.

“The Twitter board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr Musk.”

chairman Bret Taylor tweeted

Twitter has hired New York’s Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, which is one of the world’s leading corporate law firms.