A Delaware judge has rejected Elon Musk’s bid to postpone the Twitter trial regarding his proposed A$64 billion takeover until next February, instead scheduling it for October.
“The reality is delay threatens irreparable harm to the sellers,” Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Court of Chancery in Delaware said.
Musk has indicated he will now countersue. He has 12 days as of today (July 20) to file the countersuit.
Musk asked it the suit be delayed until “on or after” February 13, 2023, claiming he needs that time to properly review Twitter’s claims of how many bot accounts are on its platform.
“These issues will require complex, technical discovery—including the forensic review and analysis of large swaths of data,” Musk’s motion read.
“Twitter has engaged in tactical delay for two months by resisting Defendants’ information requests.
“Twitter’s sudden request for warp speed after two months of foot-dragging and obfuscation is its latest tactic to shroud the truth about spam accounts long enough to railroad Defendants into closing.”
Twitter’s lawyer William Savitt argued it needed the earliest possible trial date, in case it wins, and extra litigation is then needed to force Musk to agree to terms.
He claimed the number of spam accounts is irrelevant, and is being used as an excuse for Musk to exit a deal he entered hastily.
“When Mr. Musk started asking questions, the answers he got were alarming,” said Andrew Rossman, Musk’s lawyer.
“The core dispute over false and spam accounts is fundamental to Twitter’s value,” Rossman argued.
“It is also extremely fact and expert intensive, requiring substantial time for discovery.”
Chancellor McCormack set the trial for five days, with the parties to work out the schedule.
