Billionaire Elon Musk’s tendency to dish out insults while being interviewed under oath was challenged anew on Monday, when lawyers representing Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) are scheduled to question the Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO about his sudden decision in July to pull out from his $44 billion deal for the social media company.
Testifying in previous legal battles, the world’s wealthiest man called opposing attorneys “reprehensible,” called into question their happiness and criticized them for “extortion.” He asked one attorney if he was developing a contingency because the lawyer’s client was supposedly behind on child support payments.
“So probably you’re on a contingency or you’re taking that kid’s money. Which is it?” Musk asked a lawyer for a whistleblower in a case against Tesla, a transcript of the 2020 deposition showed.
The high-stakes Twitter interview is closed to the public and set to start on Monday and extend to Wednesday, if necessary, according to court records.
Musk’s lawyers will need to keep him focused on responding to questions, but that can be difficult with such a sharp and opinionated witness, said James Morsch, a corporate litigator who is not included in the court battle.
“I would compare it to trying to hold a tiger by his tail,” Morsch said.
In a 2019 deposition in litigation over Tesla’s takeover of solar-panel maker SolarCity, Musk declined five times to respond to one of the initial questions because of the way it was phrased, the transcript shows.
“We can stare at each other until you rephrase it,” Musk told opposing attorney Randall Baron, based on a transcript.
“I’ll guess we’ll just cancel this deposition,” Baron responded. Baron proposed that he would ask for an order from the judge instructing Musk to answer questions, which appeared to get things moving.
Twitter refused to comment and Musk’s legal team did not instantly respond to a request for comment.
Twitter’s attorneys are expected to use the interview to attempt to show that Musk ditched the deal due to crashing financial markets and not because the company misinformed him about the actual number of users or hid security flaws, as he claimed.
Musk wants a judge to permit him to bail out without penalty, while Twitter wants an order compelling him to buy the company for $54.20 per share. Twitter’s stock closed up 0.4% at $41.58 on Friday.
A five-day trial is planned to start on Oct. 17 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Dozens of depositions are arranged in the case, including of Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal on Monday, as each side cross-examines witnesses and collects evidence to make its case. Agrawal is expected to respond to questions from Musk’s lawyers at a law firm in San Francisco beginning at 9 a.m. local time, according to a court filing.
Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey was scheduled to testify last week.
Musk at times has displayed in his depositions the charm and wit he deploys on Twitter, where he has established a cult-like following.
The Twitter deposition atmosphere could be particularly uneasy. Its legal team includes the firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, and the main lawyer on the case, Bill Savitt, originally represented Tesla and Musk in the SolarCity deal, although not during depositions and discovery in the litigation.
Savitt failed to respond to a request for comment.
Twitter’s legal team also includes Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. A constant in the three depositions analyzed by Reuters is Musk’s hostility towards attorneys representing the opposing side, who he criticizes for “trickery” and hounds him merely for money.
Musk said to Baron, the lawyer in the SolarCity deposition:
Buy Crypto Now“I heard yesterday that 3% of the U.S. economy is legal services. That’s one of the saddest facts I’ve heard in a long time.”
The deposition in the litigation with the Tesla whistleblower, Martin Tripp, who blamed the company for wasting raw materials, started with Musk being asked if he understood the oath he took to testify sincerely.
“This sounds like some sort of legalese, semantic argument. The — what is the whole truth of something?” asked Musk, according to the transcript. “You say, ‘Is that a tree? What kind of tree is it? Is it a tree with lots of leaves?’ Or is — if you’re saying something is a tree is the whole truth? No, of course not.”
Tripp’s attorney pointed out to Musk that the judge warned he would supervise the deposition in person if questions weren’t responded to accurately.
“Do you intend to comply with the judge’s admonition there?” asked attorney William Fishbach.
“Of course,” Musk said.
