Twitter Asks Judge For Speedy Trial To Compel Musk To Complete Purchase

Twitter filed a motion asking a court to hold a speedy trial over its lawsuit to compel Elon Musk to buy the social media giant, saying every day that passes causes further damage to the company.

“This very public dispute harms Twitter with each passing day Musk is in breach,” Twitter said in the filing Monday, adding Musk “amplifies this harm by using the Company’s own platform as a megaphone to disparage it.”

“Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt,” Twitter continued. “No public company of this size and scale has ever had to bear these uncertainties.”

Twitter sued Musk last week, hoping to force him to complete the $44 billion acquisition. The company hopes to hold a trial on the matter in September, allowing a judge to rule before a debt financing deal expires in April.

The filing comes just a day before a judge in Delaware Chancery Court is set to hold a live hearing on the matter

Musk initially offered to buy Twitter in April against the wishes of the company’s board, but the body ultimately reconsidered. Financial markets began to fall shortly after ― including Tesla’s stock, the main source of Musk’s wealth ― and he seemed to temper his enthusiasm about the purchase.

Musk’s team later asked Twitter for information about spam accounts, which the social media company said it provided as part of its data “fire hose.” But the billionaire said in July he would back out of the deal, saying Twitter hadn’t provided enough information about the prevalence of such accounts, citing “material breach of multiple provisions” of the agreement.

Twitter rejected that assertion, filing suit to force the deal to move ahead while saying it believed Musk wanted to back out of the deal due to falling market conditions. The company has long said it believes about 5% of the accounts on its platform are fake.

“Musk offers no reason to think discovery must be so expansive that a trial must wait until next year,” Twitter wrote in the motion on Monday. The company added that Musk’s focus on bots and spam accounts was merely a “sideshow” to allow him to delay the litigation.

Musk has rejected calls for a speedy trial, with his lawyers saying the reality behind the site’s spam accounts “is fundamental to Twitter’s value.” His team has proposed a February date instead.