JUST IN: Elon Musk Loses Fight to Delay Twitter Trial Over $44 Billion Acquisition

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A date has been set for Twitter’s case against Elon Musk after the billionaire lost a bid on Tuesday to delay the lawsuit.

Twitter is seeking to hold Musk to a $44 billion offer, which the Tesla and SpaceX founder grew cold on after Twitter’s stock took a hit. He claims his concern is that the social media platform has more fake accounts than they have previously revealed.

Twitter wanted an expedited hearing, hoping the matter could be resolved before September 2022, but Chancellor Kathaleen S. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery has set an October date for what will be a five day trial, the Associated Press reported. Musk’s legal team wanted the trial to begin next year.

“Delay threatens irreparable harm,” McCormick said in the decision. “The longer the delay, the greater the risk.”

The delay, Musk’s team argued, is needed because the trial is “one of the largest take-private deals in history” and literally “billions of actions” need to be poured over to find the truth about alleged spam accounts Musk fears on the platform.

The judge also said Musk attempting to back of his deal to purchase the company created a “cloud of uncertainty” for Twitter as a company.

Attorney William Savitt, representing Twitter in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, argued Musk is conducting “attempted sabotage” against Twitter and accused Musk of trying to “run the clock” on the potential deal.

“It’s attempted sabotage. He’s doing his best to run Twitter down,” Savitt reportedly said, a claim Musk’s legal team denied. Savitt also accused Musk of trying to “wriggle” his way out of the massive buyout purchase.

Musk’s team argued that the billionaire is still one of the largest stakeholders in the company and therefore has no interest in sabotaging it.

“He has no interest in damaging the company,” Musk’s attorney, Andrew Rossman said, noting his client is the second largest shareholder. Rossman also claimed Twitter has already violated obligations in the deal by laying off staff and firing managers.