Musk Faces Countdown to $44 Billion Deadline to Buy Twitter (1)

After months of “will they or won’t they,” Elon Musk is running up against a court-ordered deadline to deliver on his promise to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion.

The world’s richest person and the social media company he favors have until 5 p.m. Friday in Delaware to do the deal. If they don’t, Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick has said she will schedule a November trial to determine whether Twitter can force the impulsive billionaire to complete the buyout he mused on, proposed, shunned and finally put back on the table.

The day of reckoning, after a ...