As Elon Musk's imbroglio with Twitter moves from the boardroom to the courtroom, one might expect that, under the watchful eye of Delaware's Court of Chancery, things will take on a more predictable trajectory than they have so far.
In theory, the lawsuit that the social media platform launched Tuesday to force Musk to follow through on his acquisition offer presents a limited spectrum of possible outcomes: Musk could be forced to close at the agreed-upon $44-billion price; pay a $1-billion termination fee to get out of the deal; cough up some intermediary price that the court decides; or escape entirely unscathed.
Yet if there's one lesson to be learned from all that's transpired so far, it's that there are no guarantees, even in the face of binding contracts, federal regulations and historical precedents, when it comes to the world's richest man. Settlement is still an option — some experts even say it's likely — and would open up a whole new menu of options. Here are some of them.
