Twitter's trial against Elon Musk over his attempt to withdraw his $44 billion purchase offer now has an exact start date. The Verge reports that the trial date for the lawsuit has been set for October 17th by Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick. The five-day trial will conclude on October 21st. The timing is a minor compromise.
Twitter had requested a four-day trial period beginning in September. The shareholder vote on the takeover is scheduled for September 13th. Musk's attorneys requested that the trial be postponed until February 2023, claiming that they needed more time to collect and interpret data on Twitter's massive number of fake accounts and bots.
In the end, the move benefits Twitter. It only has a few months to wait for a decision. If Musk's team hasn't finished sifting through data by October, the company may strengthen its case that Musk rushed his offer and doesn't have enough information to level deceptive accusations. As a result, Twitter may be able to either force the completion of the transaction or demand compensation for a breach of contract.