Judge grants Elon Musk’s request to halt Twitter trial until October 28

Washington: The Twitter-Musk trial is now on pause. Yes, you read it right.

A Delaware court has delayed Elon Musk’s Twitter trial to allow the Tesla CEO more time to complete his USD 44 billion purchase of the social media platform, Variety reported. “If the transaction does not close by 5 p.m. on October 28, 2022, the parties are instructed to contact me by email that evening to obtain November 2022 trial dates,” the judge, Delaware Chancery Court chancellor Kathaleen St. Judge McCormick, said in the order.

Musk, after trying for three months to exit his deal to buy Twitter, in the last few days has grown frustrated that Twitter wasn’t calling off its lawsuit. Lawyers representing Musk, in a filing Thursday with the Delaware Court of Chancery, requested that the trial, slated to commence October 17, be suspended while he works out a deal to finalize the required debt financing to swing the acquisition. Musk expects that to happen by October 28, per the court filing.

Twitter had opposed halting the trial, writing in a court filing that doing so was “an invitation to further mischief and delay.”

Musk on Monday informed Twitter that he would proceed with his original USD 54.20/share offer for the company, valued at USD 44 billion, after he previously claimed on three occasions that he was justified in walking away from the agreement because (he had alleged) Twitter violated the merger terms. Attorneys for Twitter have argued that Musk simply didn’t want to pay what he originally promised because his net worth declined with a drop in Tesla’s stock price.

Musk’s legal team wrote in Thursday’s court filing, “Twitter will not take yes for an answer. Astonishingly, they have insisted on proceeding with this litigation, recklessly putting the deal at risk and gambling with their stockholders’ interests. Proceeding toward trial is not only an enormous waste of party and judicial resources, it will undermine the ability of the parties to close the transaction.”

Twitter argued in its court filing Thursday that the merger “can and should close next week.”

“Until [Musk] commit[s] to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in court, to demonstrate its entitlement to specific performances and prove [Musk’s] breaches so as to ensure complete relief in the event the closing should for any reason not occur,” the company’s lawyers said.

Twitter, in responding to Musk’s Oct. 3 letter, had said in a statement, “We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The intention of the company is to close the transaction at USD 54.20 per share.”