SAN
FRANCISCO, United States — Twitter and
Elon Musk sparred in court on Tuesday,
each digging for evidence to prevail in a high-stakes trial next month over the
billionaire’s bid to break his buyout deal.
اضافة اعلان
Musk has been keen to find evidence to back
his accusation that Twitter misled regulators and investors about what portion
of accounts are actually spam or software “bots,” as well as its key measures
regarding growth.
Twitter, which has sued Musk to force him to
complete the $44 billion buyout deal, seeks material or testimony to prove he
is contriving excuses to walk away because he changed his mind.
A Twitter attorney told the judge it was a
struggle to get documents from data scientists Musk used to estimate the
portion of fake accounts on the social network, and that what they finally got
did not back his accusation about it being much higher than five percent.
Attorney Brad Wilson contended that Twitter
has encountered a “pattern of delay and obfuscation” when it comes to what Musk
learned from data scientists he had study Twitter data.
Musk attorneys, in turn, pressed the judge to
make Twitter hand over more messages or other material, particularly regarding
“monetizable daily active users” and “user active minutes.”
The hearing came during a discovery phase in
which rival sides seek documents, emails, depositions, and more to back their
positions.
The long list of those called on to provide
documents or to answer questions in the case includes Twitter co-founder and
former chief
Jack Dorsey.
Tesla chief Musk will be deposed under oath
over the course of two days next week in sessions that are to be recorded by
“stenographic, sound and visual means,” according to a filing.
Musk’s deposition is set to take place
privately in law offices ahead of a five-day trial scheduled to begin October
17 in the Court of Chancery in the state of Delaware.
Musk, the world’s richest man, said in a
letter in April that he was canceling the deal because he was misled by Twitter
concerning the number of bot accounts on its platform, allegations rejected by
the company.
He later added accusations made in a
whistleblower complaint by a former head of security at Twitter to his reasons
for walking away from the deal.
Twitter has stood by its assessment of user numbers, and
portrayed the whistleblower as a “disgruntled former employee” whose
allegations are without merit.
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