Who is Kathaleen McCormick, the judge who will decide who is right between Twitter and Musk

He has a reputation for steadfastness and is among the few US judges who has already forced to conclude a company acquisition after one of the two parties threatened to back out. Kathleen McCormick it is the Delaware judge who will have to decide whether Elon Musk can withdraw from the Twitter deal, canceling the agreement reached with the company last April for the acquisition of 100% of the shares for 44 billion dollars.

Chi è Kathleen McCormick

McCormick She assumed the role of Chief Judge of the Delaware Court of Chancery last year, the first woman to fill this role. You have set the first hearing in the case for next Tuesday, at 5 pm in Italy. Twitter sued Tesla’s number one last week after the businessman announced he no longer plans to buy the social network.

The reason, according to the statements of Musk’s lawyers, is that Twitter would have refused to provide precise numbers on the number of fake accounts on the platform. But there are several reasons behind it, including economic ones, given that the social network has lost over 40% of its value on the stock market since last April.

“She can’t stand oppressive positions, she is serious and without frills”

All elements that will be examined by McCormick. The judge specializes in corporate law, but she also has a degree in philosophy from Harvard University. Her past, the American media says, seems to paint a rather worrying picture for Musk. “She has an track record (a past) of ill-tolerance for harassing behavior such as that of those who want to renounce a deal “, Adam Badawi, professor of company law at the California University of Berkeley told Reuters.” He is a serious judge, no frills “, added the academician.

Those who know her describe her as a person who speaks softly, not at all on her own, even friendly. But still she asserts herself. A profile different from the more muscular one of Elon Musk who in recent weeks continues to hammer against Twitter and his management, accusing him of having defrauded him on the number of bots. And Musk’s tweets could ironically provide the best assists to the social network, determined to enforce the agreement within the terms taken.

McCormick has already ruled on similar cases

Also on Friday McCormick set the first hearing for July 19 in Wilmington, when it will consider Twitter’s request to expedite the case and conduct a four-day trial in September. It is true, as the US agency recalls, that US judges have rarely ordered a reluctant buyer to buy the company he had reached an agreement with.

But last year McCormick made headlines on Wall Street because he ordered a subsidiary of private equity firm Kohlberg & Co LLC to close the $ 550 million purchase of DecoPac Holding Inc, which makes decoration products. of cakes. Now, it is clear that the deal between Musk and Twitter is of a much larger scale.

Economic and political implications

And that has several economic implications inside. For example, the consequences any decision could have both on Twitter and on Tesla and SpaceX, two of Musk’s largest market capitalization companies.

But also political, because Musk has been denouncing on social media a hostile attitude on the part of the establishment, with direct accusations against the Democrats of wanting to hinder him in his business.

But the American analysts all seem to agree: Musk, if he’s not a goner, he almost is. It won’t be an easy decision. In any case, it will be just another piece of one of the most daring stories in the history of the new economy.