Larry Ellison Reportedly Subpoenaed In Twitter-Musk Legal Battle

Topline

Twitter brought another eccentric billionaire into the fold in its lawsuit against Elon Musk, subpoenaing Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison—the largest outside financial backer of Musk’s embattled deal to take over the social media company—according to court filings seen by Bloomberg.

Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison contributed $1 billion to Elon Musk's Twitter bid earlier this year.

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Key Facts

Ellison was subpoenaed as part of Twitter’s lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court over Musk backing out of his purchase of the social media company.

A long-time Musk ally and a Tesla board member from 2018 to this year, Ellison pledged $1 billion to the Tesla CEO’s $44 billion Twitter bid in May through his Lawrence J. Ellison Revocable Trust.

Twitter subpoenaed an official from that trust last week as part of the lawsuit, according to Bloomberg.

Representatives for Ellison and Twitter did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment.

Key Background

After a long, very public flirtation, Twitter accepted Musk’s bid to take the company private in April. The courtship quickly soured, as Musk filed paperwork July 8 to pull out of the deal over claims the company did not provide proper data about the number of spam accounts on the platform, an allegation Twitter disputes. Twitter argues that Musk’s withdrawal was in “bad faith,” and wants a Delaware judge to force Musk to close the deal.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Ellison is worth $105.8 billion, making him the sixth-wealthiest person in the world. Ellison owns 15 million shares (a 1.5% stake) in Tesla, worth $1.3 billion. Meanwhile, Musk’s estimated $266.3 billion fortune is the largest in the world.

What To Watch For

The trial between Twitter and Musk will begin October 17 and last five days. The case promises drama, and Bill Savitt, Twitter’s top lawyer in the case, called Musk a “liar looking to conjure an exit ramp for a deal that doesn’t have one” during a virtual hearing setting the trial date last month.

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