Elon Musk loses a first battle against Twitter: the trial will take place in October

Elon Musk’s camp reacted to the complaint filed by Twitter, saying that the social network demanded a “unreasonably speedy trial“. The billionaire’s lawyers want to postpone the procedure to February 13, 2023.

Following Elon Musk’s withdrawal from Twitter’s takeover process, the social network filed a lawsuit against the owner of Tesla and SpaceX on July 13. Elon Musk’s attorneys responded to the complaint by explaining that the company required a “unreasonably speedy trial“. The billionaire’s legal team wants to postpone the trial to February 13, 2023 at the earliest.

As a reminder, Elon Musk justifies his withdrawal from the takeover process by explaining that Twitter allegedly lied about the number of bots and fake accounts present on the social network. The Musk camp believes that February is a reasonable timeframe, given the “mountains of data“there is to be analysed.

The social network, he lobbied for the trial to take place quickly, around mid-September. This request is justified by the fact that the repurchase agreement would have a “presumed deadline” located on October 24. But for Elon Musk’s lawyers, the bank loans obtained to complete the acquisition remain valid until next April. However, this means that if the trial begins in February and does not end until April , the operation may fail.

Moreover, this litigation weakens Twitter a little more every day. As proof, its stock market listing has fallen by 30% since the signing of the takeover agreement at the end of April. Thus, it is in the interest of the social network that the trial takes place as soon as possible.

The two camps will meet on July 19 before the Delaware court for a preliminary hearing. The judge, Kathaleen McCormick, will decide whether or not the trial should be held quickly.