The Deadline Is Approaching for the Elon Musk Twitter Saga

Judge Kathaleen McCormick could have a busy November, depending on Elon Musk keeping his word. A Delaware judge has given the world’s richest man the deadline of 5 pm New York Time (10 pm London) to complete a $44bn deal for Tweet. Otherwise, she will be seeing him and the social media platform in Court soon.

McCormick was about to preside at a trial on 17 Oct in which Twitter was to demand that the Tesla chief executives complete a takeover agreement he signed in March. Musk had pulled out of the deal in July, but as October approached, McCormick performed a surprise U-turn to recommit to buying Twitter.

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His silence is a sign that Musk is serious about getting it done, and McCormick can focus her attention on other cases. Musk has over 100 million followers on Twitter, so there have not been any tweets aimed at him. There have also been no legal salvos from his advisory team who had been trying to argue the deal was dead.

Musk’s positive talk about Twitter is evident. He said, “I think it is an asset that has sort of languished for quite a while but has incredible potential.”

Later, he added that Twitter’s long-term potential is a magnitude higher than its current value.

This is far from the man who spent his summer, via his Twitter feed and a punchy contrast accusing the business of misleading investors. He also trashed the company he just agreed to purchase. McCormick could be presiding at a trial in which both sides desire the same outcome, even if the deadline of 28 October is missed due to disagreements between the sides.

Professor at Boston College Law School Brian Quinn says that he expects that the deal will close in one way or another. He says the main obstacle to progress would be an investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. This can examine business deals and recommend that they are suspended or blocked. Musk bought Twitter with financial support from non-US investors. This includes the Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, who is already a Twitter investor. The White House said that it was not aware of any security reviews of the deal.

Quinn says that the deal will close Friday. Quinn says, “The deal will close on Friday.” Musk will be appearing in court a week later unless Musk makes a compelling and convincing case. Musk will be required to sign this agreement if this goes to trial.

It is hard to find a legal observer that believes Musk wouldn’t be required to sign a deal at $54.20 per share. This was before he attempted to back out over the number of spam accounts. Twitter’s Delaware incorporation has a strong reputation for supporting agreed transactions.