US Judge Sets October Trial to Settle Musk Cancellation of $44Bln Twitter Purchase

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick on Tuesday recommended a five-day trial in October to settle social media company Twitter’s lawsuit against entrepreneur Elon Musk for attempting to cancel his $44 billion acquisition deal of the platform.

Lawyers representing Twitter argued during the hearing for an expedited schedule placing the trial in mid-September. Musk’s legal team instead proposed a longer trial in February, which they still consider to be expedited. The extra time is needed to prepare discovery and depositions for the trial given the complex nature of the case, Musk’s lawyers said.

McCormick’s ruling falls closer to Twitter’s proposals, with the judge arguing that Musk’s legal team underestimates the ability of the court to work through complex cases. McCormick said that she has every confidence that the lawyers on both sides will rise to the challenge of the case.

Twitter launched a lawsuit against Musk in response to his attempts to cancel the $44 billion purchase of the social media company over concerns about the number of bot accounts on the platform.

Musk’s team strongly believes that the proportion of spam and fake accounts is higher than the 5% the company reported as a basis for the deal. However, Twitter’s lawyers addressed Musk’s claims by arguing that the company made clear that the 5% figure and the process used to determine it could be flawed.

Twitter’s legal team suggested that Musk may have been trying to delay the trial in order to wear down the company’s business and continue putting them under pressure through media attention.

Musk in April initially agreed to purchase the company in a deal valued at approximately $44 billion. The takeover was approved by Twitter’s Board of Directors in June, but Musk attempted to terminate the deal in early July, prompting the lawsuit by Twitter to compel the entrepreneur to follow through on his purchase.