In an effort to get Musk to "honor his obligations," Twitter requested an expedited, four-day trial in September. Meanwhile, Musk's attorneys requested a February 2023 trial date during the initial trial on Tuesday.
While Delaware Court of Chancery chancellor Kathaleen McCormick approved the social media company's expedited trial request, she decided to grant a five-day trial beginning in October.
What Happened on the Initial Trial on June 19
Following two months of purported "foot-dragging and obfuscation" about requested information relating to bots and other bogus accounts, Musk's attorneys said at the initial trial on Tuesday that Twitter allegedly rushed to conclude the proceedings and force the acquisition, as per news story of Engadget.
Musk has undermined an employee retention plan and is engaging in "needless value destruction," according to Twitter's legal counsel, who called Musk's actions "inexcusable" in court. Musk's attorneys countered by alleging that Twitter was run-around with Musk's bot data, The Verge reported.
In an effort to seal the deal, Musk charged Twitter with not reporting the correct number of fake accounts and failing to provide sufficient details. Musk's lawyers also argued that they needed more time to search Twitter's raw "firehose" data that is why they requested a delayed trial in February next year.
Twitter clearly won in the initial trial, even though it didn't receive everything it wanted. As previously mentioned, the court decided to grant a five-day trial beginning in October, as compared to Twitter's request of a four-day trial in September.
Brief Background on the Case
As we have previously reported, Twitter filed a complaint to the Delaware Chancery Court on June 12 that the billionaire had improperly broken his promise to purchase the company. "Musk refuses to honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests," the complaint reads.
In April, Musk declared his intention to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, or nearly $44 billion. Less than two weeks after this proposal was made, Twitter accepted it. In May, however, the billionaire said the deal was "temporarily on hold" while his team looked into if bots really did make up less than 5% of Twitter's user base, as the social media giant claimed.
After a few weeks, Musk threatened to back out of the agreement, saying that Twitter had violated it by withholding sufficient information, which constituted a "material breach." In response, Twitter granted Musk full access to its internal "firehose." However, more information, including executive emails and text messages on the matter, was apparently requested by Musk's legal team.
Twitter's lawsuit also extensively covers Musk's alleged attempts to impede the company's attempts to retain its talented staff in the face of the company's declining morale. Additionally, Twitter claimed that Musk had stopped it from implementing retention efforts and that attrition had increased as a result of the merger agreement.
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