Twitter, Elon Musk Set for Unprecedented Legal Battle Over Deal Collapse

With Elon Musk attempting to terminate his $44 billion takeover of Twitter Inc. and the company vowing to force him to follow through, the social-media powerhouse and the world’s richest person appear headed for a messy courtroom battle.

The company says it plans legal action and is any day expected to file a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery, arguing he is required to close the agreed-upon deal.

Corporate law experts say Twitter appears to be on sounder legal footing than Mr. Musk, who accused the company of breaching their contract. The bigger question, they say, is if Twitter succeeds in court, is it really possible to force the eccentric billionaire—known for eschewing norms even when it gets him in legal trouble—to buy a company he doesn’t want to own?

“What are they going to do if there is a judgment and he says, ‘Well, I’m still not going to buy it’?” said Zohar Goshen, professor of transactional law at Columbia Law School. “They don’t really have tools to force him to go through with it. You don’t put people in jail because they don’t buy something.”