Elon Musk has lost a fight to delay Twitter鈥檚 lawsuit against him as a Delaware judge on Tuesday set an October trial, citing the 鈥渃loud of uncertainty鈥� over the social media company after the billionaire backed out of a deal to buy it.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP鈥檚 earlier story follows below.
An epic legal fight between Elon Musk and Twitter began in earnest in a Delaware court Tuesday as lawyers for both sides fought over how soon the trial should begin.
Twitter is trying to force the billionaire to to buy the social media giant for $44 billion 鈥� and the company wants it to happen quickly because it says the ongoing dispute is harming its business.
Musk, the world鈥檚 richest man, pledged to pay $54.20 a share for Twitter, but now wants to .
鈥淚t鈥檚 attempted sabotage. He鈥檚 doing his best to run Twitter down,鈥� said attorney William Savitt, representing Twitter in Delaware鈥檚 Court of Chancery before the court鈥檚 Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick. The hearing was held virtually after McCormick said she tested positive for COVID-19.
Musk has claimed the company has failed to provide adequate information about the number of fake, or 鈥渟pam bot,鈥� Twitter accounts, and that it has breached its obligations under the deal by firing top managers and laying off a significant number of employees.
But the idea the Tesla CEO is trying to damage Twitter is 鈥減reposterous. He has no interest in damaging the company,鈥� said Musk's attorney Andrew Rossman, noting he is Twitter鈥檚 second largest shareholder with a far larger stake than the entire board.
Savitt emphasized the importance of an expedited trial starting in September for Twitter to be able to make important business decisions affecting everything from employee retention to relationships with suppliers and customers.
Rossman said more time is needed because it is 鈥渙ne of the largest take-private deals in history鈥� involving a 鈥渃ompany that has a massive amount of data that has to be analyzed. Billions of actions on their platform have to be analyzed.鈥�
Associated Press, The Associated Press
