The public version of Elon Musk’s response to Twitter’s lawsuit over his bid to walk away from their $44 billion purchase deal will be issued before the end of this week—Aug. 5, a judge has ruled.
Musk’s team initially wanted it to be disclosed to the public by Aug. 3, but the decision faced opposition from Twitter’s attorneys, who argued they needed more time to review and potentially redact Musk’s sealed filing.
The attorneys deemed redaction necessary to avoid internal Twitter information and data given to Musk from being revealed.
“Few cases attract as much public interest as this one, and Twitter is mindful of this court’s commitment to ensuring maximum public access to its proceedings,” Twitter attorney Kevin Shannon wrote. “Twitter has no interest in proposing any more redactions to defendants’ responsive pleading than are necessary.”
According to Shannon, court rules require that five business days lapse before a public version of Musk’s filing is docketed.
Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, on Aug 3, gave assent to Twitter’s proposal and ordered the public filing to be docketed by 5 p.m. on Aug. 5 at the latest.
The Delaware court also decided that the document could be filed earlier, depending on when Twitter attorneys complete their review.
Meanwhile, Musk attorney Edward Micheletti claimed that no part of his client’s submission should be withheld.
“Twitter should not be permitted to continue burying the side of the story it does not want publicly disclosed,” Micheletti wrote.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk filed a counterclaim against Twitter after the social media company sued the billionaire for backing out from their $44 billion purchase deal.
Musk’s counterclaims are an abrupt escalation in the legal battle between the big tech company and the richest man in the world, where Twitter is suing Musk to complete the acquisition deal he entered into with Twitter on April 25.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Musk had argued that the number of bots on Twitter is far greater than the 5 percent the company had disclosed, representing a “material adverse effect” that justified backing out of the deal on July 8.
Consequently, Twitter sued days later, rejecting Musk’s assertion and seeking to complete the deal.
If the other party is held responsible for the contract collapsing, either Musk or Twitter would be entitled to a $1 billion breakup fee.
Twitter shares on Aug. 3 closed at $41, much below their 52-week high of $69.81.
Gary Bai contributed to this report.
