(San Francisco) Elon Musk filed a lawsuit on Friday to stop the trial with Twitter from taking place until next year, after the social network asked for an expedited procedure.
Posted at 7:33 p.m.
In a court document quoted by the American media, the lawyers of the boss of Tesla accuse the board of directors (CA) of Twitter of wanting to send the case.
The CA launched legal proceedings on Tuesday against Elon Musk, to force him to buy the platform according to the terms agreed with him at the end of April, which valued the Californian group at 44 billion dollars.
The leaders would like the trial to open in September, so as not to prolong the period of uncertainty which is partly paralyzing the company.
The multi-billionaire asked him not to start before February 13, given the complexity of the elements to be examined.
Solicited by AFP, Elon Musk’s lawyer did not respond immediately.
He had contractually agreed at the end of April to acquire Twitter, before unilaterally announcing last week that he was terminating the agreement, because the Board would not have provided reliable information on the number of fake accounts active on the network.
His lawyers assure that the lawsuit will require analyzing “mountains of data” to prove, as Elon Musk claims, that the platform is riddled with inauthentic accounts, automated accounts and spam, well beyond the proportion of the 5% indicated by the company.
In its complaint, Twitter accused the whimsical boss of “hypocrisy” and “bad faith”.
“He claimed to ‘suspend’ the deal pending fulfillment of imaginary conditions, failed in his obligation to find financing […] breached its duty of secrecy (and) used confidential information for improper purposes,” the company’s attorneys listed. “Twitter has suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable harm from these breaches.”
A preliminary hearing is due to take place on Tuesday in a specialized business law court in Delaware (eastern United States).