Elon Musk asks to delay the trial against Twitter to February 2023

MADRID, 16 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The lawyers of the founder and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, have presented this Friday to the United States Justice an appeal so that the process for the failed purchase of Twitter does not take place until February 2023, after the social network requested the trial for September.

Twitter had filed for a lawsuit in September because Musk had to complete his deal to buy the company by October 24. Something to which Musk's legal team has refused, proposing the month of February as an alternative date for the trial, as reported by 'The New York Times'.

Musk and his team argue that the deal's deadline "is automatically extended" in the event of litigation, which would not affect the process. Sources close to the Tesla founder suggest the lawyers want a better chance of building their case, Axios has learned.

Twitter, for its part, seems to intend to resolve the matter "as soon as possible", alluding to the fact that "time is money".

"The Twitter board has every interest in resolving this quickly, and it has every interest in delay: time is money," a Tulane Law School professor consulted by The New York Times has analyzed.

Despite that, the tycoon's legal team has presented its arguments to the judge in a legal filing aimed at opposing the company's demand for a speedy four-day trial in September.

On July 12, Twitter filed a lawsuit against the billionaire before a court in the state of Delaware to force him to commit to his offer to buy the company after breaking the agreement between the parties.

"Musk apparently believes that he, unlike any other party subject to Delaware contract law, is free to change his mind, wreck the company, disrupt its operations, destroy shareholder value," the company has said. , as picked up by the NBC News network.

Last week, Musk transferred to Twitter that he was renouncing the social network's purchase contract after receiving no response from the company when requesting information on the number of false accounts found on the platform, as well as the way of company to audit and suspend them.

In mid-May, the tycoon decided to temporarily suspend the purchase of Twitter, agreed at the end of last April for some 44,000 million dollars (43,620 million euros), pending details that would support the company's calculation that fake accounts make up less than five percent of users.

Subsequently, through a letter sent in early June by Musk's lawyers to the United States Securities Market Commission (SEC), the billionaire's legal team considered Twitter's position a "substantial breach" of its obligations under the merger agreement, warning that Elon Musk "reserves all resulting rights, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement."