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A US judge ordered the start of the trial in the dispute over the Twitter acquisition in October, which was a setback for Elon Musk after his request for a delay was rejected.
Twitter resorted to sue Musk, the richest man in the world, after announcing his withdrawal from the $44 billion acquisition of the platform.
Twitter hopes that the prosecution will pay Elon Musk to complete the acquisition at the agreed price, $54.20 per share.
Musk had accused Twitter of withholding information about the fake accounts.
Elon Musk’s lawyers requested that the trial be postponed to the beginning of the following year, given its complexities. But Twitter has demanded that the sessions begin in September.
A Delaware judge agreed with the company that the case’s adjournment could give an impression of “uncertainty”.
The lawsuit accused Musk of a “long list” of merger agreement violations that “cast a shadow over Twitter and its business.”
Twitter’s senior adviser, William Savitt, said at Tuesday’s hearing that continued uncertainty around the acquisition was “damaging Twitter daily.”
“Musk was and remains contractually obligated to do everything in his power to complete the deal,” Savitt said. “What he’s doing is just the opposite. It’s sabotage.”
Musk’s lawyer, Andrew Rossman, responded that Elon remains one of Twitter’s most important contributors. He said the case should go to trial next year, according to a “reasonable” timetable that would give both sides time to prepare.
Since Musk began raising suspicions about the number of fake and malicious accounts on Twitter in May, the company has seen share prices plummet from their all-time high of $50 per share.
The company’s share price is currently $39.45 – well below the $54.20 the company hopes to sell.
Musk, who describes himself as a “free speech advocate”, vowed to relax Twitter’s content moderation rules once ownership of the company is transferred to him.
He also called for more transparency about how the platform delivers Tweets to users – a system that currently allows for some promotions and wider audiences.
There is a theory that Musk still wants to buy Twitter, but is only trying to lower the price. If that’s the case, his lawyers are good poker players.
Musk’s legal team wants that court to convene next year.
They claimed that they needed more time to dig into the information in search of the intrusive accounts.
They repeated Musk’s assertion that Twitter may have more fake accounts than it claims.
This is a deeply damaging accusation — it’s strange to talk about whether Musk is still interested in buying the company at a lower price.
Twitter’s reputation has taken a huge hit. The company’s revenue depends almost entirely on . The fewer real accounts on the platform, the less profit the company can make. Fake accounts cannot contribute to this.
So Twitter wants the process to be completed quickly. The best-case scenario so far for the company is to sell it to Musk for $54.20 per share, and that happens as soon as possible.
So the injunction is good news for Twitter. The judge was on the side of the company’s lawyer, in issuing an early ruling in the case.
This puts more pressure on Musk, who is facing the odd situation of having to buy a company, which he no longer wants.
However, these pressures are likely to push Musk to settle, and then move on after paying some money to Twitter.