London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 10, 2026

Questions about Elon Musk's Twitter takeover bleed into his pay-package trial, annoying Musk: 'Are we in the Tesla trial or Twitter trial?'

Questions about Elon Musk's Twitter takeover bleed into his pay-package trial, annoying Musk: 'Are we in the Tesla trial or Twitter trial?'

Elon Musk faced several questions about his Twitter takeover during his testimony on Wednesday. The billionaire was sued by a shareholder over his $50 billion Tesla compensation package. Musk appeared annoyed with questioning and asked, "Are we in the Tesla trial or Twitter trial?"
Even during a Tesla compensation trial, Elon Musk couldn't escape questions about Twitter.

Musk was peppered with questions about his Twitter acquisition, as well as his persona on the platform, throughout his testimony Wednesday in a Delaware court regarding his $50 billion Tesla pay package.

"Are we in the Tesla trial or Twitter trial? I'm confused," Musk said to lawyer Greg Varallo of Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman, after Varallo asked him a series of questions around his role as "Chief Twit."

"We're in cross examination in an interesting case Mr. Musk," Varallo said. "So when your lawyer wants to make an objection, he has the right to do it. Sadly, you don't, but I suspect he will if he doesn't like the question."

Musk is facing a lawsuit from Tesla shareholder Richard Tornetta over his $50 billion Tesla compensation package. In the lawsuit, Tornetta argues that Musk and the automaker breached their fiduciary duties by awarding Musk a pay package that was "beyond the bounds of reasonable judgment." Tesla has argued that the package was justified because no one else could have made the electric-car maker's value soar the way that Musk has.

Until recently, Musk was also facing a lawsuit from Twitter over his attempts to avoid his committement to buy the social platform for $44 billion.

During Musk's Wednesday testimony, which lasted over two hours, Varallo questioned Musk about his role at Twitter, including his recent comment saying he plans to sleep at Twitter's headquarters until the company "is fixed." The billionaire said he plans to eventually bring in someone else to run Twitter and said he would be finished reorganizing the company by the end of the week.

"There's an initial burst of activity needed post acquisition to reorganize the company, but then I will reduce my time [committement] to Twitter to find somebody else to run Twitter over time," Musk said.

The billionaire also said that while he had brought in dozens of Tesla engineers to review Twitter's code, it was after work hours and on a voluntary basis. Experts previously told Insider that Musk's use of Tesla engineers at Twitter could be another cause for shareholder litigation.

"[It was] like if you could help me evaluate Twitter engineering that would be that would be appreciated," Musk said.

Throughout the trial, Tornetta's lawyers have argued that Tesla's pay package has allowed the billionaire to turn his focus to other companies, including Twitter.

The Tesla CEO has faced his fair share of lawsuits and is known for giving combative testimonies.

At several points, Musk said the lawyer's questions were designed to "mislead people."

"Are you trained as a lawyer?" Varallo asked at one point, after Musk said he had agreed to a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission "under duress," which he had deemed "not valid as a foundation of law."

"I have some familiarity with the legal system," Musk joked. "If you're in enough lawsuits you pick up a few things along the way."

Musk is one of 19 witnesses that will take the stand over the course of the week, including executives who worked at Tesla in 2018, advisors that helped create the pay package, and compensation experts. Tesla has argued that Musk's 2018 pay plan, which involves a 10-year grant of 12 tranches of stock options that are vested when Tesla hits certain targets, was necessary to the carmaker's success. Tesla shares have soared over 1,000% to date since the billionaire's compensation plan was established in 2018.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
Compass Urges £10 Million Wealth Tax and Public Ownership Ahead of UK Autumn Budget
UK Government’s Devolution Plans Face House of Lords Scrutiny
Maldives Seeks New Chagos Sovereignty Talks With UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham
UK Airports Face Continuing Disruption After National Air Traffic Control Failure
UK Bans Imports From Israeli Settlements and Expands Sanctions on Iran
British Chambers of Commerce Forecasts UK Growth of 1% as Investment Remains Weak
UK Suspends Local Government Reorganisation Decisions and Cancels Planned Shadow Authority Polls
UK Parliament Opens Inquiry Into Gaps in Climate Change Preparedness
Andy Burnham and Xi Jinping Hold Talks on Trade, Security and British Consular Cases
UK Joins France, Canada and Other Nations in Measures Against Israeli West Bank Settlements
UK Announces New Sanctions Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Networks
British Chambers of Commerce Calls for Business Rate Reform and Productivity Support
UK Farmers Warn Dry Summer Could Reduce Crop Yields and Push Up Food Prices
UK Rail Networks Hit by Widespread Delays After Major Signalling Failures
Matt Clifford Resigns as ARIA Chair After Conflict-of-Interest Scrutiny
UK and France Say Joint Border Operations Have Prevented More Than 48,000 Irregular Channel Crossings
UK Core Inflation Remains Above Expectations as Utility and Commodity Costs Stay Elevated
Jaguar Land Rover Considers Up to 4,000 UK Job Cuts Amid Automotive Industry Pressure
UK Government Pauses Local Authority Reorganisation for Legal Review
UK Public Borrowing Reaches £1.8 Billion in July, Adding Pressure Before Autumn Budget
Chancellor John Healey Puts Regional Devolution and Fiscal Discipline at Heart of UK Growth Plan
Counter-Terrorism Police Lead Salford Investigation After Two Teenagers Charged
UK Rejects Financial Reparations for Transatlantic Slavery
UK and Egypt Step Up Diplomacy Over Escalating West Bank Tensions
UK Pauses Council Reorganisation Across Four English Counties
Jaguar Land Rover Plans 4,000 Job Cuts in Major UK Restructuring
UK Unveils Planning and Regulatory Overhaul to Speed Infrastructure and Economic Growth
University of Bristol Opens £500 Million Innovation Campus
Families Give Evidence to Independent Review of Sussex Maternity Failures
Sweden Confirms Deportation of 458 British Citizens Over Post-Brexit Residency Rules
UK Launches £3 Million Challenge for Long-Duration Energy Storage
Reform UK Proposes £100 Billion in Spending Cuts and Brownfield Deregulation
Andy Burnham Warns Macron That EU Procurement Rules Could Hurt British Steel
Andy Burnham Faces Major Decision on Future North Sea Oil and Gas Drilling
SEND Support in England Projected to Reach One in 10 Pupils
England’s Housing Courts Struggle With Surge in No-Fault Eviction Cases
Violent Clashes Erupt in Portsmouth During Protest Against Asylum Processing
Three-Quarters of NHS Emergency Staff Report Regular Violence or Aggression
UK Considers Converting Female Prison Space for Male Inmates as Overcrowding Worsens
UK House Prices Record First Annual Decline in Nearly Three Years
UK Government Reassesses Policy Toward Israel Amid Calls for Diplomatic Shift
Reform UK Faces Police Scrutiny Over Alleged Foreign Donations Scheme
University of Bristol Opens £500 Million Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus
Online Bookmakers Accused of Privacy Breaches Through Cookie Consent Practices
Health Campaigners Urge UK Government to Abandon U.S. Pharmaceutical Agreement
Three-Quarters of UK A&E Staff Report Regular Violence or Aggression
Far-Right Demonstrations Target Portsmouth as Small-Boat Crossings Fuel Tensions
UK Records Hottest Summer on Record After Severe Heatwaves
UK Travellers Face Renewed EU Border Delays as Temporary Flexibility Ends
×