The much-anticipated court showdown between Elon Musk and Twitter has been halted for 12 days, to allow the parties to reach an agreement over the acquisition of the micro-blogging platform.
The squabbling parties were due to face off in the Delaware Court of Chancery on 17 October, but yesterday the trial judge ordered the matter be stayed until 28 October, to allow Musk and Twitter to conclude the takeover agreement reached in April.
The bickering between Twitter and Musk began after the Tesla CEO made an about-turn on an initial agreement to acquire the global social networking platform.
In April, the parties entered into a definitive agreement for Musk to acquire Twitter for $54.20 per share in cash, before the businessman reneged on the deal, prompting the court action.
This week, Musk returned to the table with his $44 billion Twitter bid, on condition the company stops the court action against him.
Yesterday, the trial judge agreed with the request. “If the transaction does not close by 5pm on 28 October, the parties are instructed to contact me by e-mail that evening to obtain November 2022 trial dates.”
If the negotiations succeed, upon completion of the transaction, Twitter would become a privately-held company.
Musk has new plans for the platform, including an “X app”, which the billionaire said is an “everything app”.
The issue of spam bots and free speech on Twitter are some of the issues Musk questioned − a position he has held from the time the takeover deal was made public.
Bots are automated accounts, and their use can lead to overestimations of how many humans are on the service, which is important for advertising rates and the overall value of the service.
Meanwhile, Twitter announced the introduction of mixed media – videos, images and GIFs − together in one tweet.
With this, Twitter says it is helping creators express themselves, as it is “always looking for new and exciting ways to help creators share more and be seen”.
“Mixing different types of visual content together in a single tweet allows creators to express themselves beyond 280 characters and gives them more ways to tell their story.”
The company says this latest move is an example of how it is working to make Twitter “the easiest and most convenient place to share images, videos and other creative content”.
“It complements the rollout of two new video products – full-screen videos and a new video carousel in the Explore tab – that help make it easier than ever for people to find and watch what’s happening on Twitter,” says the company in blog.
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