Among Friends

The Delaware Court of Chancery has entered an order in Twitter v. Musk

In conclusion, Twitter’s request that the court hold that Defendants waived their objections to multiple discovery requests by engaging in obfuscatory discovery tactics is denied. Twitter’s request to compel Defendants to identify persons with knowledge of or involvement in key issues and events is granted. Twitter’s request to compel Defendants to respond to discovery requests related to Musk’s co-investors is granted. Twitter’s request to compel Defendants to produce their communications, if any, regarding the merger, the merger agreement, the proxy statement, or Twitter, with government authorities is denied as premature. Twitter’s request that the court order Defendants to produce documents promptly and on a rolling basis is denied.

The court observed

Even assuming that Musk has many friends and family members, Defendants’ breadth, burden, and proportionality arguments ring hollow. It is difficult to conclude, for example, that requiring Defendants to respond to an ordinary-course interrogatory listing persons with knowledge, even if those persons have duplicative knowledge, is disproportionate to the needs of any case, particularly a case that concerns a $44 billion merger.

(Mike Frisch)