Twitter won the first legal battle against Elon Musk on Tuesday. Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the chief judge of the Delaware Chancery Court, ordered a five-day trial in October over whether the billionaire is forced to complete his $44 billion acquisition. Musk had agreed to buy Twitter in April but terminated the deal in early July. Consequently, Twitter sued Musk and sought to expedite the case by requesting a trial in September, which Musk had countered by asking for a trial in February.
Twitter argued the case should be accelerated because shareholders and its business have been left in limbo by Musk’s move this month to terminate the deal. Twitter is seeking a remedy known as “specific performance,” meaning Musk would have to go through with the deal rather than just monetary damages.
“The longer the merger transaction remains in limbo, the larger a cloud of uncertainty is cast over the company,” said Kathaleen St. J. McCormick. She said the case should be resolved quickly, agreeing with Twitter’s claim that it could be harmed by uncertainty about its future as a public company.
