Elon Musk trial against Twitter will ‘press on’ regardless of new deal, judge says

Elon Musk may still have to go to trial against Twitter for the purchase of the social media company despite having put in a new offer to purchase it.

Kathaleen McCormick, the judge on Delaware’s Court of Chancery, wrote that no one has applied for a “stay” in the action.

“The parties have not filed a stipulation to stay this action, nor has any party moved for a stay. I, therefore, continue to press on toward our trial set to begin on Oct. 17, 2022,” wrote Ms McCormick in a letter. The judge was expected to preside over a five-day non-jury trial between Mr Musk and the company.

Tesla, which is owned by Mr Musk, is also a Delaware corporation and as such could open the unprecedented scenario in which the court would go after Mr Musk’s stock options if Mr Musk lost the case.

Mr Musk had made many requests via the court for Twitter data, but Ms McCormick has been historically critical of these requests, calling them “absurdly broad”, the Wall Street Journal reports.

However, Twitter has reportedly agreed to delay a deposition by Mr Musk that was scheduled to take place today as the two groups talk about closing the deal, the Financial Times reports.

Mr Musk had cancelled a previously scheduled deposition over concerns about catching Covid-19.

Musk and Twitter previously held talks about potential price cuts to the deal, but these were unsuccessful according to previous reports.

Eric Talley, a law professor at Columbia University, told The Verge that Mr Musk was likely facing “a very unpleasant deposition” that could potentially dredge up “extremely inconsistent statements” made throughout this debacle – and that was likely the reason he wants to avoid the court case.

Mr Musk has said that he wants Twitter to be an accelerant for a “super app” like China’s WeChat that could facilitate a number of features including payments and instant messaging.