Elon Musk files defense under seal as Twitter trial set for October 17

Twitter Inc.’s lawsuit against Elon Musk over a cancelled $44 billion buyout of the social media platform is set for a five-day trial starting October 17 in Delaware, with the billionaire filing his defense and counterclaims under seal.

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick set the trial date after Musk’s lawyers claimed Twitter wanted an October 10 start date “without justification.” Twitter said it wasn’t opposed to October 17 as long as it was assured of a full five-day trial.

Meanwhile, Musk’s legal team also filed its formal answer and counterclaims to Twitter’s suit over the teetering transaction Friday, but the response was sealed. Under chancery court rules, Musk will have five days in which to produce a redacted version of the filing.