BREAKING: Musk deposition is DELAYED for negotiations: Tesla CEO wants to wriggle out of Twitter deal if banks fail to lend him $12.5 billion they agreed to – but social media firm denies request and wants to charge him interest for delays
- Elon Musk’s deposition was delayed on Thursday as he and Twitter executives continue to negotiate the terms of his $44 billion takeover
- Among the many issues they are said to be discussing is whether Musk will try to make the deal contingent on his $12.5 billion debt-financing package
- Banks that had signed onto the agreement are now trying to get out of the deal
- Twitter executives are trying to make sure Musk doesn’t back out of the agreement, seeking a reaffirmation of the specifics of the original deal
- They are also said to be considering issuing a request that Musk pay interest to make up for the delays
Elon Musk‘s deposition was delayed on Thursday as he and Twitter executives continue to negotiate the terms of his $44 billion takeover.
Both sides agreed to delay Musk’s deposition, scheduled for Thursday in Texas, as they continue to iron out a deal that would deter a non-jury trial in Delaware on October 17, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Among the many issues they are said to be discussing is whether the Tesla CEO will try to make the deal contingent on his original $12.5 billion debt-financing package, as banks try to weasel their way out of the agreement.
The banks could argue that Musk’s antics in delaying the agreement have sufficiently damaged Twitter, enough to qualify as a material adverse effect, letting them walk away, the New York Times reports.
And Musk could even foil his own deal by refusing to sign a letter certifying Twitter is solvent, though the judge in the case is likely to force the billionaire to sue the banks for the agreed-upon money under the New York law that governs them.
Meanwhile, Twitter executives are trying to make sure Musk won’t back out of his agreement again, seeking a reaffirmation of the specifics in the previously-agreed-to contract.
They are also considering options like court supervision of the closing process, and requesting that Musk pay interest to make up for the delays.
Without an agreement, neither side has requested a delay in the trial, and it is still scheduled for later in the month.
‘The parties have not filed a stipulation to stay this action, nor has any party moved for a stay. I, therefore, continue to press on toward our trial set to begin on October 17, 2022,’ wrote Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick, the judge on Delaware’s Court of Chancery, in a court filing on Wednesday.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk will not have to answer questions in a deposition scheduled for Thursday as his representatives and Twitter executives try to iron out the details of his $44 billion takeover
Twitter executives are considering requesting that Musk pay interest to make up for the delays. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is pictured here in July