SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026.
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Elon Musk’s lawyers are asking Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Katherine McCormick to resign from the second trial. tesla She filed a lawsuit alleging that Musk showed bias in endorsing a LinkedIn post critical of him.
“A dismissal is necessary and warranted given the court’s recent public endorsement of LinkedIn posts that create prejudice against Mr. Musk,” Musk’s lawyers said in a motion to dismiss Wednesday. “These cases should be reassigned to another randomly selected judicial officer of this court.”
The post, to which McCormick allegedly replied with an emoji, promoted a San Francisco federal court ruling that could cost Musk more than $2 billion. In that case, a jury found that Musk defrauded Twitter investors in the lead up to the social network’s acquisition.
Mr. McCormick wrote to Mr. Musk’s attorney, saying he had not read the full text of the mentioned LinkedIn post, did not endorse it, did not intend to click on the emoji endorsing the post, and may have simply clicked on the indicator by mistake. She also said in her letter that she had reported “suspicious activity” on her account to LinkedIn.
Alex Spiro, a partner at Quinn Emanuel and Mr. Musk’s lawyer, told CNBC in an email that he has contacted LinkedIn about the matter and said, “I believe there is no basis to the claim that this was a ‘glitch.'”
Owned by LinkedIn microsoftdid not respond to requests for comment.
Mr. McCormick became a target of Mr. Musk’s ire when he presided over the Tornetta v. Mr. Musk shareholder lawsuit, ordering Tesla to cancel its 2018 CEO pay package worth about $56 billion in options.
Mr. Musk moved his businesses, including Tesla, out of Delaware and incorporated into Texas and Nevada, and encouraged other companies to do the same.
In 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court said Musk’s 2018 pay package should be restored, ruling that the lower court’s decision in McCormick was an extreme remedy and did not give Tesla a say in what fair compensation for Musk should be.
Tesla and Musk still have two lawsuits in Delaware court before McCormick. One concerns Tesla’s director compensation, and the other is a consolidated shareholder lawsuit filed by investors alleging that Musk breached his fiduciary duties to Tesla when he launched xAI, a potential artificial intelligence competitor.
Earlier this year, Tesla invested $2 billion in xAI. Later, Musk’s aerospace and defense company SpaceX acquired xAI, converting Tesla shares into SpaceX holdings.
Video: Elon Musk makes fun of two giant chip factories
