Judge Allows Twitter to Expedite Lawsuit Against Musk

https://twitter.com/Benzinga/status/1549432823215521793

by abduhl • 4 years ago

54 78 4 years ago

fooey2• 4 years ago

https://twitter.com/chancery_daily has had some great live tweeting of the hearing today, but I would hazard this tweet paraphrasing the ruling is the most significant

The Court: In this case, Twitter seeks specific performance, and it is not at all apparent that damages could constitute a sufficient remedy to Twitter. https://twitter.com/chancery_daily/status/154943327265618739...

That's the judge implying that the remedy could very well be a forced completion of the purchase

tptacek2• 4 years ago

That'll be the official, legal remedy; what seems most likely is that once Twitter obtains that remedy, they'll settle with Musk, who will in fact pay damages.

parkingrift5• 4 years ago

Why would Twitter settle with Musk after they win specific performance in court?

cuteboy19• 4 years ago

Good deal for shareholders right? Don't give up ownership of Twitter and net 10-15 Billion $ for free

srvmshr9• 4 years ago

I hope this is a worthy & commensurate lesson for Elon Musk, who has been recklessly playing with the stock markets, flouting norms & trying to be an iconoclast in the not-so-benevolent way.

Sometimes, hard lessons are necessary.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-07-19/let-s-...

melony2• 4 years ago

It's only a bad deal if the stock market does not recover by the time he has to complete the transaction. At his scale, he can afford to drag out the deal for another few months and save money. If the tech bubble reinflates, then this deal is bad for Twitter.

Ekaros2• 4 years ago

Only really if Twitter would trend to go over the offered price. Which I doubt.

Scarbutt• 4 years ago

A few months? with a recession coming?

kadoban5• 4 years ago

If that's what Musk is betting on, he might as well just complete the sale now. I don't think there's anything reasonable to judge the deal by except the _current_ worth, unless there's some good reason to expect it to move one way or the other.

LegitShady3• 4 years ago

Elon Musk doesn't know you exist and doesn't care what you think about him. Pretending that being sued is the same thing as losing isn't honest. Musk alleges twitter didn't keep to the terms of their agreement and it will come out in court how true this all is. It's not worth having a personal opinion of what people you dont know deserve when their crime is "involved in a business deal you don't approve of".

srvmshr9• 4 years ago

I humbly suggest, get over such vitriol in a opinion & knowledge sharing platform like HN, maybe get some professional help. Just a sincere advice from fellow user It isn't a directed sarcasm. Writing like this isn't okay

Quoting guidelines: "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work [...]"

xenadu022• 4 years ago

As a participator in Tesla IPO Musk's actions are very concerning to me. His prior incident tweeting that he had lined up financing to take Tesla private (which was a 100% complete lie) should have been enough of a wake up call that he needed to stop "getting high on his own supply". From what we can see on the outside it appears he didn't learn anything from it.

In fact it appears his offer to buy Twitter was not a well-researched and planned operation, it seems to have been something of a whim initially.

None of us can really know what he was thinking but for my part I think it is simple buyer's remorse. He didn't really consider the consequences of tying up his personal wealth in the deal, the potential to lose control of his other companies, nor how he would ever make his money back on Twitter itself. Perhaps he thought the bull market would erase all sins eventually anyway only to slam directly into a bear market wall.

Whatever the case his behavior seems erratic and unconsidered at times. As a shareholder I find that deeply disturbing. I would much rather he focus on running Tesla and SpaceX instead of trying to buy Twitter.

TechBro86154• 4 years ago

I’m not sure what lesson there is to be learned here. Wasn’t it Musk who sent this to the courts by letting it go there? Why does everyone assume he’s not in control of this situation? Many favorable outcomes remain available to him.

He’s certainly improved his position since a few months ago, when the Twitter board was discussing “poison pills” to stop his purchase of the company. Now, the same board is begging him to complete the purchase.

Also, there was a recent reminder from Musk’s legal team: as its largest shareholder, Musk has a greater financial stake in Twitter than the entire board combined.

srvmshr9• 4 years ago

Also, reminder: as its largest shareholder, Musk has a greater financial stake in Twitter than the entire board combined

You verbatim quoted the actual closing arguments of Rossman (representing Musk in the trial).

parkingrift5• 4 years ago

Why does everyone assume he’s not in control of this situation? Many favorable outcomes remain available to him.

Well for starters he didn’t want a Delaware venue and didn’t want an expedited trial. Lost on both. Doesn’t sound like someone who is in control of the situation.

Now, the same board is begging him to complete the purchase.

A very interesting way of phrasing reality. “Asking a court to force Musk to adhere to the contract he signed an executed.”

If you don’t work in PR, you definitely should. You have a gift for it.

srvmshr9• 4 years ago

when the Twitter board was discussing “poison pills” to stop his purchase of the company. Now, the same board is begging him to complete the purchase.

These are two separate incidents although commonly conflated. Poison pill is used to block a hostile takeover where the board has been taken by surprise, by diluting stake - which happened because Musk didnt disclose to SEC for long time he owned 14.4% of the Twitter.

After the things were in the light of the day, he didn't take up the position on Twitter board & instead offered to purchase controlling stake in Twitter (something which was not possible as a board member). The negotiations hence followed for purchase

Then, he has famously backed out of the Twitter deal in bad faith & disparaged it publicly. Twitter is also beholden to its investors. They have every right not to tank their market cap because a rich guy got whimsical

jjulius• 4 years ago

Now, the same board is begging him to complete the purchase.

"Begging" is definitely not the best word choice here. This is a lot less, "Oh, please, please, pleeeeeease Mr. Musk, please pay us, pretty please?" and a lot more, "Alright, we're tired of you fucking around. It's time for you climb out of your sandbox and hold up your end of the deal."

rurp2• 4 years ago

as its largest shareholder, Musk has a greater financial stake in Twitter than the entire board combined.

How is that relevant to the contract Elon signed and now wants to renege on?

tmp_anon_22• 4 years ago

Tell that to the Twitter employees who have to put up with this bullshit.

krallja• 4 years ago

I love how one of the replies to this tweet (when I looked) is a crypto touting bot. Hopefully that’s not counted as a mMAU!

gfrff• 4 years ago

I think the right remedy are damages. It's simple. Musk should pay the difference between his offering price and Twitter's current market cap.

advisedwang• 4 years ago

By most readings of the contract, damages for the deal are capped at $1 billion

Src: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/11/business/dealbook/elon-mu...

moralestapia5• 4 years ago

The Twitter lawsuit against Elon is a different thing than the acquisition contract they agreed on.

The damages that Twitter can claim from this new lawsuit are not bound by the clauses of said contract.

Although, in this case, they just want the deal to go forward, at any moment Twitter could say "your marketing stint, or whatever that was, has cost us $X billion and we want compensation for that" and they have grounds for it.

decremental5• 4 years ago

I hope that whatever happens it ends with the total destruction of Twitter. I'm glad that it's getting expedited because this is great content.

extheat3• 4 years ago

There’s a good saying, delete Twitter, and productivity will sky rocket.

Ekaros2• 4 years ago

I also would love to see Musk and Tesla to crash. Entirely deservedly.

decremental5• 4 years ago

That's fine too. I don't care about anyone involved in this.

Judge Allows Twitter to Expedite Lawsuit Against Musk

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