Summary:
- Elon Musk has filed a countersuit against Twitter over the now uncertain $44 billion deal.
- The lawsuit was filed late Friday, July 29th, a few hours after a Judge set October 17th as the beginning of Twitter’s case against him.
Tesla’s CEO and SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, has counter-sued Twitter amidst the ongoing court battle that the social media company lodged to compel him to complete his $44 billion takeover bid.
According to Reuters, Elon Musk’s counter lawsuit was filed late Friday, July 29th, hours after a Judge set October 17th as the beginning of the initial case by Twitter to pressure him into completing his side of the $44 billion deal.
However, details of the counter lawsuit are unavailable as Elon’s lawyers submitted the 164-page document as confidential. But the courts will require Elon Musk and his legal team to submit a public version of the filing with sensitive information redacted.
On Friday, Judge Kathaleen St. H. McCormick ordered a five-day trial of the case rather than the two weeks Elon and his legal team had requested for a February 2023 court case. The report by Reuters added that Judge McCormick appeared to anticipate that the initial Twitter lawsuit would generate controversy. She said, ‘this order does not resolve any specific discovery disputes, including the propriety of any requests for large data sets.’
Twitter Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal, and the social media’s board chairman, Bret Taylor, told investors in a letter that they ‘were committed to closing the merger on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk.’
Also, on Friday, Elon Musk was sued by Luigi Crispo, a Twitter investor who owns 5,5000 shares. According to Mr. Crispo, Elon Musk ‘had breached his fiduciary duty to Twitter shareholders and award damages for losses he caused.’ He also wanted the course to compel Mr. Musk into closing the deal.
The ongoing court battles between Elon Musk and Twitter have consequently had a negative impact on the second quarter earnings of the social media giant. Late last week, Twitter posted $270 million in losses during the quarter and pointed out that the revenue drop was due to a weak ad market and the ongoing legal battle against Elon Musk regarding the takeover deal.
