Micro-blogging platform Twitter Inc. dismissed Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s complaints that he doesn’t have enough information regarding spam and robot accounts an “irrelevant sideshow”, as reported by Bloomberg.
According to the report, Twitter has also urged a judge to hold a trial as soon as possible over the cancellation of a $44 billion buyout of the company by Musk.
In the nine-page filing on Monday, Twitter’s attorneys said, while responding to Musk’s request for a delay, “The earliest possible trial date is imperative. This very public dispute harms Twitter with each passing day.”
Musk, the world’s richest man, terminated the deal on July 8 to acquire the social media platform, accusing Twitter of not complying with the contract by providing information to assess how prevalent the bots are on Twitter.
The Tesla CEO said it will take months to conduct a forensic review and asked for a February trial.
However, lawyers of Twitter in a regulatory filing on Monday said that Musk was fully aware of the bot issue when he signed the deal to buy the company.
“Musk is using his consent rights to straight-jacket the company’s operations, and the overhang of his breach jeopardizes Twitter’s relationships with employees and customers,” according to the filing. “Millions of Twitter shares trade daily under a cloud of Musk-created doubt. No public company of this size and scale has ever had to bear these uncertainties.”
Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick, who’s hearing the case, said that a Tuesday hearing in Delaware on Twitter’s request to fast track the case will be held on Zoom instead of in-person because she is suffering from Covid, while adding that her symptoms are not severe.
Last week, San Francisco-based Twitter sued Musk seeking to force him to complete the deal, and requested a September 19 start for the non-jury trial.
Lawyers for Twitter said they need only four days to prove Musk should honour his agreement to pay $54.20 a share for the social-media platform. Twitter shares rose 67 cents to $38.41 on Monday.