Elon Musk is scheduled to spend the next few days with lawyers for Twitter, answering questions ahead of an October trial that will determine whether he must follow through on his $44bn agreement to acquire the social platform after attempting to back out of the deal.
The deposition, planned for Monday, Tuesday and a possible extension on Wednesday, will not be public. As of Sunday evening, it was not clear whether Musk would appear in person or by video. Reuters reported the deposition did not happen Monday nor was a reason given for the delay, citing sources with knowledge of the situation.
Twitter’s attorneys are expected to use the interview to try to show that Musk abandoned the deal due to falling financial markets and not because the company misled him about the real number of users or hid security flaws, as he alleged.
Musk, the world’s richest man, agreed in April to buy Twitter and take it private, offering $54.20 a share and vowing to loosen the company’s policing of content and to root out fake accounts.
Musk indicated in July that he wanted to back away from the deal, prompting Twitter to file a lawsuit to force him to carry through with the acquisition for $54.20 per share.
Musk wants a judge to allow him to walk away from the agreement without penalty.
The trial over the purchase is scheduled to begin 17 October in Delaware Chancery court and is expected to last just five days.
Musk’s is one of dozens of depositions in the case. Subpoenas have been issued to the billionaire Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle Corp; Intel Corp’s former chief executive officer Robert Swan; and Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey, who is currently chief executive of Block.
