Twitter Subpoenas Ellison Trust Official in Fight Over Musk Deal

Jef Feeley, Bloomberg News

Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, April 21, 2022. Elon Musk said Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions are providing about $25.5 billion in debt financing for his bid to buy Twitter Inc. as he looks to pile pressure on the company to engage with his offer. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc. subpoenaed an official of a trust controlled by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison that committed $1 billion to Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion buyout of the social media company.

The company’s lawyers are demanding Ellison Trust representative Philip Simon hand over details of the entity’s involvement in the now-teetering transaction, according to court filings Friday.

Twitter also subpoenaed venture capitalist Marc Andreessen over the financing of the deal, as well as David O. Sacks and Joe Lonsdale.

The company has sought information from more than a dozen people or investment firms that committed equity to Musk’s purchase as well as the banks that advised Musk and pledged billions in financing.

Read More: Elon Musk Turns to Billionaire Backers for Twitter Equity

Twitter’s legal team wants Simon and Andreessen to turn over “documents and communications” about their intentions to invest in the deal and all information about arrangements for “equity co-investments,” the filings show.

Both sides are seeking information to make their case ahead of an Oct. 17 trial in Twitter’s suit seeking to force Musk to complete the acquisition. Musk claims he canceled the deal because Twitter failed to provide him with information about the number of spam and bot accounts on the platform. Twitter says his bot complaints were a pretext for him to walk away.

The case is Twitter v. Musk, 22-0613, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).

Read More: Musk Says Twitter Played ‘Hide-and-Seek’ as He Sought Info