Elon Musk lost his bid to delay Twitter's lawsuit against him as a US judge set a trial date for October, noting the "cloud of uncertainty" over the social media business after Musk pulled out of an agreement to acquire it.

"Delay threatens irreparable damage," said Chancellor Kathaleen St Jude McCormick, the chief judge of Delaware's Court of Chancery, which handles numerous prominent corporate disputes.

"The greater the risk, the longer the delay."

Twitter requested an expedited trial in September, but Mr. Musk's legal team requested a delay until early next year due to the case's complexity. Ms. McCormick stated that Mr. Musk's legal team misjudged the Delaware court's capacity to "quickly process complex litigation."

Twitter is attempting to compel the billionaire to make good on his April promise to purchase the social media giant for $44bn (€43bn) — and the company wants this to occur as soon as possible, claiming that the prolonged conflict is damaging its business.

Mr. Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, agreed to pay $54.20 per share for Twitter, but now he wants out of the deal.

It is an attempt at sabotage. Attorney William Savitt, who represented Twitter in Delaware's Court of Chancery before Ms. McCormick, stated, "He is doing everything he can to bring Twitter to its knees."

The hearing occurred almost immediately after Ms. McCormick reported testing positive for Covid-19.

Mr. Musk asserts that the firm has failed to disclose sufficient information regarding the amount of false, or "spam bot," Twitter accounts and has breached its obligations under the agreement by firing key management and laying off a substantial number of staff.

Mr. Savitt stated that the challenged merger agreement and Mr. Musk's critical remarks were detrimental to the firm.

He questioned Mr. Musk's request for a trial postponement, posing, "Is the true plan to run out the clock?"

Mr. Savitt stated, "He's counting on wriggling out of the contract he signed."

However, the notion that Tesla's CEO is attempting to harm Twitter is "absurd." Mr. Musk's attorney, Andrew Rossman, noted that his client is Twitter's second-largest shareholder and that he has no desire to harm the company.

Mr. Savitt emphasized the significance of an expedited trial beginning in September for Twitter to make crucial business choices affecting everything from staff retention to supplier and customer relationships.

Mr. Rossman stated that additional time is required because this is "one of the largest take-private transactions in history" involving a "business with an enormous quantity of data that must be analyzed. Millions of acts must be analyzed on their site."