A US judge has ruled that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s responses to Twitter’s lawsuit can be made public by Friday because the microblogging platform requires more time to review what Musk and his legal team have documented in their response.
Twitter, which has now dragged Musk’s billionaire friends into the legal battle, which will begin on October 17, is concerned that Musk will expose internal Twitter information and data he was given in his responses, which could be damaging to the company, according to media reports late on Wednesday.
Twitter seeks all of Tesla’s documents and communications related to Musk’s $44 billion takeover bid in a new subpoena filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, where the trial will begin in October for five days.
According to The Verge, Twitter claims Musk signed a contract to buy the company and is now using spam accounts to cancel the deal.
Twitter’s subpoena for Tesla includes a list of 27 requests, including internal Tesla communications about Musk’s takeover plan, all communications between Musk and Twitter, and all communications between Musk and his co-investors (like Larry Ellison).
Twitter also wants “all documents related to the roughly $8.4 billion worth of Tesla stock that Musk sold to finance the takeover bid,” the report mentioned.
Twitter is also looking for information on Musk’s $6.25 billion margin loan commitment from May.
According to another report, Twitter’s legal team has requested “extensive requests for communications, including checklists, timelines, presentations, decks, organisational calls, meetings, notes, and recordings” related to the deal’s financing in a court subpoena.
According to The Washington Post, the top investors mentioned in the subpoena are Marc Andreessen, founder of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), former Facebook executive and CEO of Social Capital, Chamath Palihapitiya, and David Sacks, who assisted Musk in the formation of financial services firm PayPal.
Twitter has also sued Tesla and SpaceX board member Stephen Jurvetson, as well as investors Jason Calacanis, Keith Rabois, and Joe Lonsdale.
