Elon Musk’s effort to delay Twitter’s trial against him flopped in court, after a Delaware judge ruled that Twitter’s lawsuit seeking to hold Elon Musk to his $44 billion takeover will go to trial in October https://t.co/ZhHM7IN1S8 pic.twitter.com/c99AWRqczQ
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 20, 2022
Gina Chon & John Foley, “Twitter-Musk divorce court favors the kids”:
If the priority in a divorce is the kids, then the merger equivalent needs to be all about the shareholders. That’s more or less the outcome of the Delaware Chancery Court’s first decision on the $44 billion deal between Twitter and Elon Musk. On Tuesday, Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick set a speedier October trial for the fight with Tesla’s boss, which favors the social network’s wishes. Swifter clarity is good for everyone, especially investors.
Shareholders have been shuffled between the combating parties since the saga began in April when Musk disclosed his investment in the social network. Shares hit a high of about $52 and a low of around $33 as the SpaceX founder touted and then ditched the deal. McCormick noted that the risk of irreparable harm to Twitter grew as uncertainty about its future was prolonged.
The social network pushed for an expedited trial in September for four days to force the erratic buyer to close the transaction. Musk, in turn, requested a February court date for 10 days. The court’s decision for a five-day hearing in October seems sensible. The deal has certain contingencies that expire in the fall, and blowing past those would have made Twitter’s shareholders face even more uncertainty. In that light, Musk’s interest in pushing the trial to next year was an extreme ask that was probably just meant to be a starting point for a negotiation, akin to demanding the house and the dog in a divorce…
All well enough, except… (trigger warning: body shaming)…
— Scott Nover (@ScottNover) July 19, 2022
While the Chancery court met, Musk was in Greece, visiting a fellow billionaire’s yacht and swimming in the lovely Mediterranean Sea, as one does. Photographers for the Daily Mail were also in Mykonos, doing what *they* do — bringing joy to the cruel, shrunken hearts of snarksters.
Shirtless Elon Musk vacations in Mykonos on luxury yacht https://t.co/xH4luUMTgr pic.twitter.com/j4N21y5wWT
— Page Six (@PageSix) July 18, 2022
… and there was, per the experts, surprisingly little pushback from the usual suspects…
But “seriously”…
Sister Golden Bear
First!
JWR
Twist
Woo-hoo! Got the coveted 2nd place! Now where’s my prize?
Sister Golden Bear
@JWR: Your prize is the “Katie Porter using pale Elon as a white board promoting the Jan. 6 hearings” meme. Yes it’s a real thing.
Kent
Between Elon and all the cyber nerds going bankrupt it has been an entertaining last few months. Uber stock is also in the toilet.
JWR
@Sister Golden Bear: Lol! (And I’m sure she’d do it, too.)
Major Major Major Major
@Kent: If you own any stocks at all you’re taking a beating right alongside them.
prostratedragon
Wow, and me still working on my Josh, Haulin’ playlist. Target-rich environment these days.
@Major Major Major Major: Hush!
Roger Moore
My gut feeling about Musk is that he’s basically an evangelist/promoter; less generously you could describe him as a huckster. That type is very common in the startup sphere, because someone who can convince investors to put their money into the company and skeptical buyers to try a new product is really what the company needs. Unfortunately for the rest of us, the media seems to be at least as easily suckered by this kind of huckster as investors and early adopters.
The problem for Musk right now is that his companies have grown past the stage of needing him. They need steady management who can convert their technological advantage into profitability, not a mercurial promoter. I think, though I’m not sure, that both companies are in the process of sidelining him as an active leader in favor of someone who has the skill they really need. That leaves him with too much time on his hands, and he’s filling the empty hours with self-destructive narcissism.
Major Major Major Major
@prostratedragon: I have really enjoyed watching the crypto meltdown though.
Major Major Major Major
Here’s a picture of Samwise enjoying the new game Stray.
NotMax
Musksplat Love.
//
HumboldtBlue
Kathaleen
I wonder if that wasn’t a name insisted upon during the peak of labor and later inscribed into public record.
prostratedragon
@Major Major Major Major: Every cloud has it’s silver lining.
“Road Runner,” Jr Walker and the All-Stars
ETA: There’s at least one even better Jr Walker tune here, but I’m not going there. You know what to do.
Anne Laurie
@HumboldtBlue: Kate Clinton used to have a riff about her father:
Kath-a-leen… three syllables, very serious.
NotMax
@Anne Laurie
Swiveling 180 degrees (with four syllables!), K-K-K-Katy.
:)
prostratedragon
“Running Away,” Bob Marley
Bruce K in ATH-GR
Of course Musk chose Mykonos. It’s a lovely island, but it’s also where crass people choose to go when they visit a Greek island. It’s where you go if you want to be seen, not to get away from it all.
(Tom Hanks, for one, goes to a different island, which I suspect his wife’s Greek relatives may have introduced him to. Probably most people haven’t heard of it.)
HumboldtBlue
@Anne Laurie:
Thanks for the intro.
lgerard
Fetterman
just has no mercy
James E Powell
@Roger Moore:
So he’s like Elizabeth Holmes, but he attached himself to a product that works.
JWR
For all the no-cable left coasters, PBS World is rebroadcasting yesterday’s hearing. (Midnight PST.)
HumboldtBlue
Athletics is always worth a look during the summer months.
Here is Noah Lyles breaking a 200M record set by Michael Johnson and one gets an appreciation for the trade of a tailor who asks a man, “swing left, or right?”
Ruckus
@Roger Moore:
self-destructive narcissism
At the end of the day, what other kind is there? Sure most of them will screw over/take out a lot of people on the way but final exposure is almost always self destruction.
Ruckus
@HumboldtBlue:
Damn.
That was an amazing race. He didn’t even look like he was working all that hard at the end. I’ve seen people give it their all, I’ve seen people that you wouldn’t expect to be great, be greater than anyone else. He still astounds.
HumboldtBlue
@Ruckus:
That was a performance, makes one sit up and notice.
WhatsMyNym
@Major Major Major Major:
You might want to rethink your investment strategy. I’m doing fine.
prostratedragon
@Ruckus: Over at the first turn. Outstanding.
David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@WhatsMyNym:
My shares of Soylent Green and Clampett Oil are booming. And I just bought 4 units in Nakatomi Plaza.
Baud
@David 🌈☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Always invest in people.
Baud
@Ruckus:
Thanks, man.
Gvg
It may be in twitter shareholders best interests to be overpaid for their stocks, but many twitter readers really didn’t want the unmoderated filth returning to twitter, Trump wasn’t the only one. In addition it always seemed likely to me it would bankrupt EM’s other asset companies to overpay that much for twitter, not to mention the loss in value to their shareholders as the deal seemed likely to go through drove their value down. I wonder if they can counter sue to at least remove Musk from any remaining control.
I do think he is getting in trouble out of boredom.
3rd time the rebuilt site hasn’t saved my info and there is no button to tell it too.
AnonPhenom
@WhatsMyNym:
Love me some contrary indicators. When people start talking like that call options start looking good.
Stevie
I have to apologize in advance for this body shaming crime but Elon musk shirtless looks like that Chinese mummy came to life and went on vacation to Greece!
Ken
@Gvg: I will not be surprised if the court orders, say, a $10 billion payment, and it turns out Musk can’t actually come up with that much.
Miss Bianca
@Sister Golden Bear: oh dear God. That is so, so wrong. So…hilariously…wrong.
PaulB
Speaking as an older, overweight, white male, I’m fine with body shaming, so long as it’s punching upward.
Major Major Major Major
@WhatsMyNym: care to share how you’re beating the indexes by, what, 30%?