Twitter accuses Musk of 'sabotage' and gets the early trial it wanted
The ongoing saga of Elon Musk's purported Twitter takeover should get some kind of resolution this year, thanks to what can only be interpreted as a win for Twitter in Delaware Chancery Court. A hearing was held on 19 July to determine when Twitter's lawsuit(opens in new tab) against the tech billionaire should go ahead: the social media company asked for a fast resolution, and a trial in September, while Musk's lawyers wanted a delay and a date to be set for next year.
The judge was Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, and the decision was that a trial date will be set for sometime in October 2022. The court concluded that «delay [of a resolution] threatens irreparable harm» to Twitter, and «the longer the delay, the greater the risk.»
This is in the context of the takeover sending Twitter's share price on a wild ride, and also Musk's ongoing habit of tweeting about the company in a negative light while simultaneously trying to take them over. The judge noted this meant Twitter was currently operating under «a cloud of uncertainty».
Twitter wants Musk to be forced to complete the deal. This is one of the powers of a chancery court, which can compel people against their will to go through with transactions. While that would be an incredibly unlikely outcome here, the prospect of it may be what eventually leads to some sort of settlement. One suspects that what Twitter really wants here is to get a chunk of compensation and to move on from the circus.
Should the court compel Musk to complete the deal, it would be at the initially agreed price of $54.20 per share, which values the social media company at approximately $45 billion. The current share price is just under $40. The penalty fee for welching on the deal would
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