Trial date set for Twitter-Musk dispute

A US judge has set an October date for Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon Musk, citing the ‘cloud of uncertainty’ a delayed trial would cast over the social media company.

‘Delay threatens irreparable harm’, Chancellor Kathleen St Jude McCormick said on Tuesday.

The announcement was a blow to Musk and his legal team who had argued for the trial to be held early next year due to the complexities of the case.

In July, Musk backed out of his $44bn bid to buy Twitter, saying that the company had failed to disclose information about fake accounts known colloquially as ‘spam bots’.

According to Associated Press, Musk has also claimed that Twitter breached its obligations under the deal by firing top managers and a significant number of employees.

The tech billionaire and founder of Tesla and SpaceX was subsequently sued by Twitter, which  called for a case to be tried in September.

Twitter is hoping for a favourable ruling that will force Musk to make good on his earlier commitment to buy the social media giant for the original offer of $44bn.

According to the BBC, Musk is being accused of a ‘long list’ of violations regarding the takeover – violations that had ‘cast a pall’ over the company.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Twitter’s lead counsel, William Savitt, argued that the uncertainty surrounding the takeover ‘inflicts harm on Twitter every day’ – a sentiment that was later echoed by Chancellor McCormick when handing down her judgment.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Savitt also accused Musk of ‘doing his best to run Twitter down’, saying that his disparaging public remarks amounted to ‘attempted sabotage’.

Andrew Rossman, Musk’s attorney, called Savitt’s accusations ‘preposterous’, noting that his client was Twitter’s second largest shareholder and thus would have no interest in damaging the company.

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