Topline
Twitter pushed back Monday against Elon Musk’s bid to wait until early next year before holding a trial that could force Musk to buy the social network, claiming the world’s richest man is trying to “disparage Twitter and prolong this litigation,” the latest salvo in a bitter dispute that began after Musk tried to pull out of his $44 billion deal to acquire Twitter.
A banner with the Twitter logo is set on the front of the New York Stock Exchange.
Key Facts
Twitter—which sued Musk in Delaware state court last week—is pushing for an expedited trial in September, arguing in a court filing Monday that Musk’s request to hold a trial in February 2023 “fails at every level” and is “calculated to complicate and obfuscate.”
Musk’s attorneys say they’ll need several months to conduct discovery for an “extremely fact and expert intensive” trial examining whether Twitter’s public claims about spam accounts are accurate, but the company on Monday called Musk’s questions about the prevalence of spam and fake accounts a “contractually irrelevant sideshow.”
Twitter also said it needs a quick trial because the brewing dispute—much of which has played out in tweets penned by Musk—is harming the company: “Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt,” Twitter’s attorneys wrote.
What To Watch For
A judge in Delaware Chancery Court has scheduled a hearing on Twitter’s lawsuit against Musk for late Tuesday morning, and could rule on Twitter’s request for an expedited trial shortly thereafter.
Key Background
Musk announced two weeks ago he was “terminating” his offer to buy the social media platform at $54.20 per share, throwing a 10-week-old deal struck by Musk and Twitter into disarray. The billionaire claimed he’s pulling out of the agreement because he believes Twitter has publicly lowballed the number of spam and fake accounts on its social network, and insisted Twitter hadn’t supplied enough data to back up its claims. The company quickly filed a lawsuit seeking to force Musk to close the deal: The company argued its estimates about fake and spam accounts aren’t grounds to cancel the agreement, and accused Musk of leading a “fishing expedition” so he can get out of a deal he’s no longer interested in closing.
Big Number
$230.8 billion. That’s Musk’s net worth as of Monday, making the Tesla and SpaceX CEO the wealthiest person on Earth by a sizable margin, according to Forbes’ estimates. However, Musk’s net worth has dropped somewhat in recent months, mostly due to a decline in Tesla’s share price.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/07/18/twitter-argues-musks-bid-to-delay-trial-fails-at-every-level/