‘Love me tender’: how Musk wooed Twitter, only to leave it at the altar

theguardian.com:

It was late January and Elon Musk had just announced a change of gear at Tesla, the world’s largest electric car company. In the teeth of a global supply chain crisis, the firm would not be releasing any new models until at least 2023. But America’s $230bn (£194bn) tech tycoon had found another focus for his attention. Within days, he had begun investing large sums in Twitter shares, to build a stake that eventually reached more than 9%.

On 26 March, Musk held a conversation with his old friend Jack Dorsey. But this wasn’t an informal catch-up: Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter, had retained a seat on its board and the two men, along with another board member, discussed whether Musk should also become a director.

The other topic of conversation was the future of social media.

It is a future that now, at least for Twitter, hangs in the balance. The platform last week launched a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Musk after the entrepreneur walked away from a $44bn agreement to buy the company. In a filing outlining its claim, Twitter’s legal team has given a blow-by-blow account of the events that led to the collapse of the deal.

Twitter is asking a court in Delaware to compel Musk to complete the takeover he agreed to in April at $54.20 per share. In the legal jargon, it is seeking “specific performance” – a requirement that he complete the deal as agreed – and a consensus is forming that Twitter has a strong case. It is pushing for a quick hearing in September, with the hope that a verdict will come before a deadline to complete the deal on 24 October. On Friday, Musk filed a motion opposing Twitter’s request to fast-track a trial and is instead seeking a date in February next year.

Twitter’s lawyers have not minced their