Twitter claims Musk is ‘slow-walking’ trial over $44 billion deal

The two sides will make their arguments about the trial's proposed start date to a Delaware Court of Chancery judge on Tuesday

July 19, 2022 09:44 am | Updated 01:02 pm IST - WILMINGTON

In this illustration photo, Elon Musk’s Twitter page is displayed on the screen of a smartphone with Twitter logo in the background.

In this illustration photo, Elon Musk’s Twitter page is displayed on the screen of a smartphone with Twitter logo in the background. | Photo Credit: AFP

Twitter Inc on Monday accused Elon Musk of trying to "slow walk" the company's lawsuit to hold him to his $44 billion takeover and urged a September trial to ensure deal financing remains in place, according to a court filing.

(Sign up to our Technology newsletter, Today’s Cache, for insights on emerging themes at the intersection of technology, business and policy. Click here to subscribe for free.)

"Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt," the company wrote. "No public company of this size and scale has ever had to bear these uncertainties."

Twitter has sued Musk and asked a Delaware judge to order him to complete the merger at the agreed price of $54.20 per share.

The company said if Musk is ordered to close the deal it could still take months of additional litigation to close the debt financing, which expires in April. For that reason, Twitter asked the judge to reject Musk's proposal to hold the trial in February.

Musk, who is the world's richest person and chief executive of electric carmaker Telsa Inc, accused San Francisco-based Twitter of rushing the trial to obscure the truth about spam accounts and to "railroad" him into buying the company.

The two sides will make their arguments about the trial's proposed start date to a Delaware Court of Chancery judge on Tuesday.

The New York Post reported on Monday that Musk's lawyers are planning to countersue Twitter to gather more information about spam accounts.

Shares of Twitter have fallen from more than $50 per share when the deal was announced in April to below $33 a share last week. Twitter's stock closed on Monday at $38.41, up 1.8%.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.