Elon Musk's legal team is frustrated after Twitter's CEO cancels his deal deposition on short notice
- Parag Agrawal canceled an interview with Elon Musk's lawyer the day before it was set to take place.
- The CEO has yet to reschedule, although the interview is expected to happen.
Twitter's Parag Agrawal canceled on short notice a scheduled deposition as part of his company's lawsuit against Elon Musk, frustrating the billionaire's legal team, people familiar with the case told Insider.
The Twitter CEO was set to be interviewed for 10 hours in San Francisco on Monday in a deposition scheduled to start at 9 am local time. Agrawal was to be questioned at length by Musk's New York-based lawyer Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. On Sunday, lawyers for Twitter emailed Musk's side to cancel Agrawal's deposition, citing "personal reasons." The deposition is expected to be rescheduled, but a new date is yet to be decided, the people familiar with the case said.
The sudden rescheduling and alleged "no show" of Agrawal created a swirl of speculation that Twitter and Musk were possibly engaging in talks about an out of court settlement.
While some of the depositions so far in the $44 billion legal battle have been done virtually or over video conference, like that of former CEO Jack Dorsey, Musk's side is said to have demanded that Agrawal be interviewed in person. The lawsuit is Twitter's attempt to force Musk to acquire the company on the terms he agreed to in April, with Musk accusing Twitter of fraud largely based on his allegation that it misled the public about how many authentic user accounts it has. A five-day trial is still set to take place the week of October 17.
Meanwhile, Musk is still set to be deposed sometime this week, one of the people familiar said, although it is also being rescheduled. His interview will also happen in person, but likely no longer in Delaware, where it was initially set to take place. One of his closest associates, Jared Birchall, was deposed last week in New York. Another, Antonia Gracias, is set to be deposed on Tuesday in Chicago.
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