P icture the scene: Elon Musk rises early at the tiny prefab where he lives in Boca Chica, Texas, not far from the launchpad of SpaceX. He grabs his phone and starts typing furiously. “I changed my mind,” he tweets. “Twitter is a basketcase — I will not buy this company.”

The message, sent on July 4 2022, when US markets are closed for America’s Independence Day celebrations, is followed by another, this one punctuated with a fireworks emoji. Musk can’t help himself: “I guess this is my Independence Day — from Twitter.”

The Tesla tycoon then instructs his team of high-priced lawyers at Skadden, Arps to go to war with Twitter’s directors. For weeks, the social media company’s board, led by chairman Bret Taylor, has

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