Delaware judge delays Twitter-Musk trial

Elon Musk and Twitter now have until the end of the month to finalize the $44 billion deal for the billionaire to purchase the platform, a judge ruled on Thursday.

Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of the Delaware Court of Chancery said that the two parties have until Oct. 28 to close the deal — a win for Musk — after the Tesla CEO had pushed for a stay in the high-stakes trial. Musk had committed in an earlier Thursday filing that he'd close the deal on or close to Oct. 28.

Court no more: It marks the latest salvo in the legal battle between Twitter and Musk to force him to follow through on his previous commitment to buy the company. Musk's team had sought to avert a trial when he returned to the negotiations on Oct. 3 after months of claiming he was walking away from the deal.

However, Twitter had rejected Musk's bid to stop the trial, pressing for Musk's team to close earlier — the week of Oct. 10 — saying that until then they should proceed to a trial, which had previously been set to begin Oct. 17.

"We look forward to closing the transaction at $54.20 by October 28," a Twitter spokesperson said.

McCormick ruled that if the transaction does close by Oct. 28, then the two parties will have to find a new trial date in November.

Blame game: Earlier on Thursday, both Musk and Twitter threw barbs at one another in separate, feisty filings. Musk's attorneys sought to blame Twitter for not playing ball since Musk had agreed to negotiate again, saying, “Twitter will not take yes for an answer."

Twitter's response put the onus on Musk to uphold his end of the merger agreement.

"Defendants’ proposal is an invitation to further mischief and delay," Twitter's filing said.

The filing continued: "Until Defendants commit to close as required, Twitter is entitled to its day in Court, to demonstrate its entitlement to specific performance and prove Defendants’ breaches so as to ensure complete relief in the event the closing should for any reason not occur."

Washington is watching: Meanwhile, Washington is watching to see if Musk’s takeover finally goes through because it could have huge implications for the future of political elites’ favorite social media app — especially if former President Donald Trump returns and if rules are lifted to prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation.