Twitter case against Elon Musk will continue through October, judge says

A Delaware court has awarded Twitter a partial victory in its legal battle with Elon Musk by ordering the trial to settle their acrimonious divorce to take place by October.

Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, presiding judge of the Delaware Court of Chancery, has ruled that the court case between the two sides will continue through October at the latest.

Twitter initially called for a trial to begin as early as September and take no more than four days to plead, while Musk’s attorneys were asking for a February hearing date or later, and for the court to give both sides weeks to introduce one’s self. their cases. They argued that a speedy trial would prevent the truth about the extent of the Twitter bot problem from coming to light in a rushed trial.

The judge ruled that the case should only take about five days to be heard, a timeframe much closer to what Twitter was asking for.

Merge failed

The two sides face off in court over their high-profile but ultimately unsuccessful takeover. In April, Musk offered to buy the social media company for more than $44 billion, fearing the company was valuing free speech as he would like.

In the weeks that followed, however, Musk began to have second thoughts.

He says he pulled out of the deal because Twitter failed to provide adequate information about the number of fake Twitter accounts, or « spam bots, » and he breached his obligations under it. of the agreement by laying off senior managers and laying off a large number of employees.

Twitter in turn accuses Musk of being insincere from the start and merely showing interest in buying the company for publicity purposes.

« It’s an attempt at sabotage. He’s doing his best to bring down Twitter, » Twitter attorney William Savitt told the judge.

He said Musk is trying to trick people into talking about bots on Twitter, even though that issue has no bearing on the deal he signed and is just trying to « conjure an exit ramp for a agreement which has none ».

Musk’s attorney, Andrew Rossman, said the idea that Musk wants to sabotage the company is « absurd » because he is the second-largest shareholder, owning more than the company’s board itself.

“He has no interest in harming the business,” Rossman said.

As part of the original merger agreement, both sides agreed to pay a $1 billion severance fee to the other if either side opted out, but both sides are suing each other. now for much more than that.

Twitter specifically asked the court to rule on the matter quickly, as uncertainty and disorder weigh on the company’s share price.

Twitter shares are currently worth less than $40 each, well below Musk’s offer price of more than $54 per share.

“The reality is that the delay threatens to cause irreparable harm to sellers,” Judge said, referring to Twitter.