London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Nov 22, 2025

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
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Envoys Deliver Ultimatum to Ukraine: Sign Peace Deal by Thursday or Risk Losing American Support
Zelenskyy Signals Progress Toward Ending the War: ‘One of the Hardest Moments in History’ (end of his business model?)
U.S. Issues Alert Declaring Venezuelan Airspace a Hazard Due to Escalating Security Conditions
The U.S. State Department Announces That Mass Migration Constitutes an Existential Threat to Western Civilization and Undermines the Stability of Key American Allies
Students Challenge AI-Driven Teaching at University of Staffordshire
Pikeville Medical Center Partners with UK’s Golisano Children’s Network to Expand Pediatric Care
Germany, France and UK Confirm Full Support for Ukraine in US-Backed Security Plan
UK Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods Face Rising Backlash as Pandemic Schemes Unravel
UK Records Coldest Night of Autumn as Sub-Zero Conditions Sweep the Country
UK at Risk of Losing International Doctors as Workforce Exodus Grows, Regulator Warns
ASU Launches ASU London, Extending Its Innovation Brand to the UK Education Market
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Visit China in January as Diplomatic Reset Accelerates
Google Launches Voluntary Buyouts for UK Staff Amid AI-Driven Company Realignment
UK braces for freezing snap as snow and ice warnings escalate
Majority of UK Novelists Fear AI Could Displace Their Work, Cambridge Study Finds
UK's Carrier Strike Group Achieves Full Operational Capability During NATO Drill in Mediterranean
Trump and Mamdani to Meet at the White House: “The Communist Asked”
Nvidia Again Beats Forecasts, Shares Jump in After-Hours Trading
Wintry Conditions Persist Along UK Coasts After Up to Seven Centimetres of Snow
UK Inflation Eases to 3.6 % in October, Opening Door for Rate Cut
UK Accelerates Munitions Factory Build-Out to Reinforce Warfighting Readiness
UK Consumer Optimism Plunges Ahead of November Budget
A Decade of Innovation Stagnation at Apple: The Cook Era Critique
Caribbean Reparations Commission Seeks ‘Mutually Beneficial’ Justice from UK
EU Insists UK Must Contribute Financially for Access to Electricity Market and Broader Ties
UK to Outlaw Live-Event Ticket Resales Above Face Value
President Donald Trump Hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at White House to Seal Major Defence and Investment Deals
German Entertainment Icons Alice and Ellen Kessler Die Together at Age 89
UK Unveils Sweeping Asylum Reforms with 20-Year Settlement Wait and Conditional Status
UK Orders Twitter Hacker to Repay £4.1 Million Following 2020 High-Profile Breach
Popeyes UK Eyes Century Mark as Fried-Chicken Chain Accelerates Roll-out
Two-thirds of UK nurses report working while unwell amid staffing crisis
Britain to Reform Human-Rights Laws in Sweeping Asylum Policy Overhaul
Nearly Half of Job Losses Under Labour Government Affect UK Youth
UK Chancellor Reeves Eyes High-Value Home Levy in Budget to Raise Tens of Billions
UK Urges Poland to Choose Swedish Submarines in Multi-Billion € Defence Bid
US Border Czar Tom Homan Declares UK No Longer a ‘Friend’ Amid Intelligence Rift
UK Announces Reversal of Income Tax Hike Plans Ahead of Budget
Starmer Faces Mounting Turmoil as Leaked Briefings Ignite Leadership Plot Rumours
UK Commentator Sami Hamdi Returns Home After US Visa Revocation and Detention
UK Eyes Denmark-Style Asylum Rules in Major Migration Shift
UK Signals Intelligence Freeze Amid US Maritime Drug-Strike Campaign
TikTok Awards UK & Ireland 2025 Celebrates Top Creators Including Max Klymenko as Creator of the Year
UK Growth Nearly Stalls at 0.1% in Q3 as Cyberattack Halts Car Production
Apple Denied Permission to Appeal UK App Store Ruling, Faces Over £1bn Liability
UK Chooses Wylfa for First Small Modular Reactors, Drawing Sharp U.S. Objection
Starmer Faces Growing Labour Backlash as Briefing Sparks Authority Crisis
Reform UK Withdraws from BBC Documentary Amid Legal Storm Over Trump Speech Edit
UK Prime Minister Attempts to Reassert Authority Amid Internal Labour Leadership Drama
×