WASHINGTON: A Judge in the United States has set an October trial date for the looming legal battle between Twitter and Elon Musk, after the Social Media giant accused the Tesla CEO of smearing its reputation and lowering its value.
The hearing on Tuesday centred on Twitter’s push to set a trial date for as early as September in a case focused on Musk’s attempt to walk away from a $44bn agreement to purchase the company.
“Delay threatens irreparable harm,” said Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of Delaware’s Court of Chancery, which handles many high-profile business disputes. “The longer the delay, the greater the risk.”
The San Francisco-based company is seeking to resolve months of uncertainty for its business as Musk tries to abandon the takeover, alleging Twitter misled him about the tally of fake accounts on the platform.
Musk announced that he was terminating the deal earlier this month, but Twitter has sought to hold him to it, saying he “knowingly, intentionally, willfully, and materially breached the agreement”.
Twitter has asked McCormick of Delaware’s Court of Chancery to find Musk breached the agreement and to order him to complete the deal at the agreed price of $54.20 per share. –Agencies
