Twitter, Musk head to October trial over $44 bln deal

Twitter Inc's lawsuit seeking to hold Elon Musk to his $44 billion takeover will go to trial in October, a Delaware judge ruled on Tuesday, adopting a schedule closer to the proposal by the social media company.

Twitter and Musk laid out competing proposals for the trial date in court on Tuesday, with Musk pushing for a trial in February.

Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick of the Court of Chancery in Delaware said the parties were capable of handling an expedited trial and as a public company Twitter deserved to have the cloud hanging over it resolved quickly.

"The reality is delay threatens irreparable harm to the sellers," she said, referring to Twitter.

She asked the parties to work out the schedule for the trial, which she set at five days.

Musk requested a two-week trial in February and Twitter asked for a four-day trial in late September.