Elon Musk, Twitter agree to postpone deposition

People familiar with the matter said that Elon Musk and Twitter Inc. agreed to postpone the billionaire s long-awaited deposition in the company's lawsuit aimed at forcing him to go through with a $44 billion buyout.

Musk reversed course earlier this week and committed himself to consummating the $54.20 per-share offer for the social-media platform on its original terms. A trial set for Oct. 17 is almost certain to be put on hold, even though the deal may take months to close.

Both sides agreed Wednesday to delay the deposition set for Thursday morning in Austin, Texas, while lawyers try to finalize the procedures to dispose of the suit, according to people who don't want to be identified discussing a confidential matter.

Banks and other investors are reviewing the deal's original $12.5 billion debt-financing package. Morgan Stanley is the boss of the lenders. Other investors include Oracle Corp. Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison.

Before restoring his original offer, Musk s representatives held talks with Twitter on lowering the deal price, people familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg News. Musk was looking at a price cut of 30% and more recently explored a 10% discount, but the discussions didn't yield an agreement, according to the New York Times.

Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick said Wednesday that she is pressing ahead with the upcoming trial because neither side has yet to pause the case. In a securities filing earlier this week, Musk offered to go forward with the deal if Twitter's suit was put on hold.

After regular business hours on the deposition being delayed, Twitter didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.

Musk skipped other deposition dates in the case. He cancelled a Sept. 28 meeting to answer questions because of Covid 19 concerns, according to court filings. He also demanded that the deposition be conducted in Texas instead of Delaware.

Musk backed off from his planned Twitter purchase earlier this year, claiming that the company hadn't leveled with him and investors about the number of bot accounts that artificially pump up advertising revenue. Twitter countered that concerns were a pretext for Musk when he started feeling buyer's remorse.

In the past, Musk, the chief executive officer of electric-car maker Tesla Inc., has turned belligerent in pre-trial questioning in other court cases focusing on his deal-making efforts.

In a deposition by Tesla investors over Musk's buyout of SolarCity, the billionaire belittled a lawyer for shareholders who claimed the deal was rife with conflicts.

To bail out of SolarCity was good for the world you tell us? Randy Baron, the investors attorney, asked in a pre-trial question.

Musk shot back, saying that solar is absolutely good for the world. Musk's deposition testimony was played in the 2021 trial of the SolarCity dispute.

During his cross-examination at trial, Musk told a Delaware judge he didn't respect Baron, who he considered to be a bad human being who specialized in asking deceptive questions. The judge ruled for Musk in the case.

The case over the Twitter buyout is Twitter v. Musk, 22 -- 0613, Delaware Chancery Court Wilmington None Facebook Is the Only Game in Town for Digital Political Ads