Delaware court denies Musk request to delay Twitter trial but approves request to add whistleblower
Source: CNBC
A Delaware court denied Elon Musks request to delay the trial over his attempt to abandon a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, according to a new filing released Wednesday. But the billionaire Tesla CEO will be allowed to add claims from a Twitter whistleblower to his countersuit, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick ruled. The trial is expected to begin Oct. 17, earlier than the mid-November date Musks team requested in its latest push.
I previously rejected Defendants arguments in response to Twitters motion to expedite, making clear that the longer the delay until trial, the greater the risk of irreparable harm to Twitter, McCormick wrote. I am convinced that even four weeks delay would risk further harm to Twitter too great to justify.
Still, McCormick said Musks request to amend his counterclaim clears the relatively low bar of the courts rules for doing so. Musks lawyers asked to add claims related to the whistleblower complaint recently made public by Twitters former head of security, Peiter Mudge Zatko. Musks team argued the complaint, which detailed what Zatko alleged were egregious security failings by the company, would show Twitter breached its terms of the merger agreement if true.
Shortly after Zatkos allegations became public, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a memo to employees first reported by CNN that while they were still reviewing the complaint, it is a false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and presented without important context. Musk originally said he wants to exit the deal because hes received insufficient reassurance from Twitter about the percentage of its monetizable users that are actually spam accounts.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/07/delaware-court-denies-musk-request-to-delay-twitter-trial-but-approves-request-to-add-whistleblower-claims.html
Full headline:
Delaware court denies Musk request to delay Twitter trial but approves request to add whistleblower claims