Elon Musk’s attempt to delay Twitter’s lawsuit against him was unsuccessful, as a Delaware court on Tuesday set a trial date for October, noting the “cloud of uncertainty” around the social media firm as a result of the billionaire’s decision to back out of an agreement to purchase it.
Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the chief judge of Delaware’s Court of Chancery, which hears numerous high-profile corporate cases, stated that “delay threatens irreparable injury.” “The risk increases with the length of the delay.”
In September, Twitter requested a speedy trial, but Musk’s legal team recommended delaying it until the beginning of the following year due to the difficulty of the case. Musk’s team “underestimated the Delaware court’s capacity to speedily process complicated litigation,” according to McCormick.
Twitter is attempting to persuade the billionaire to follow through on his April commitment to pay $44 billion for the social media juggernaut, and the firm wants it to happen as soon as possible since it claims the on-going disagreement is negatively affecting its business.
The richest man in the world, Musk, promised to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, but he now wants to break the deal.
“It’s a sabotage attempt. He is making every effort to bring down Twitter, according to lawyer William Savitt, who is defending the company in front of Delaware’s Court of Chancery Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick. After McCormick claimed that she had tested positive for COVID-19, the hearing was held virtually.
Musk has asserted that the business has broken its commitments under the agreement by sacking key executives and letting go a sizable portion of its workforce, as well as by failing to disclose sufficient information regarding the amount of phony or “spam bot” Twitter accounts.
Savitt questioned Musk’s plea for a delayed trial, asking “if the true purpose is to drag out the clock.” Savitt claimed that the contentious merger deal and Musk’s derogatory tweets about the corporation were harming the business.
According to Savitt, “He’s betting on squirming out of the arrangement he signed.”
However, it is absurd to think that the Tesla CEO is attempting to harm Twitter. Musk’s lawyer, Andrew Rossman, noted that Musk is Twitter’s second-largest stakeholder, with a holding significantly higher than that of the entire board, and that he has no interest in hurting the firm.
In order for Twitter to be able to make critical business choices affecting everything from employee retention to relationships with suppliers and consumers, Savitt underlined the significance of an expedited trial beginning in September.
As “one of the largest take-private deals in history” involving “a corporation that has a vast amount of data that has to be examined,” Rossman claimed that extra time is required. It is necessary to examine billions of actions on their site.
