What is Elon Musk's new reason to terminate Twitter deal?

By Gargi Chaudhry | First Published Sep 10, 2022, 12:50 PM IST

Elon Musk's lawyers argued that failing to seek his consent before paying the whistleblower provides another legal basis to break the merger deal with Twitter he inked in April. Musk said in his original termination letter that he was canceling the deal because he was misled by Twitter concerning the number of bot accounts on its platform, allegations rejected by the company.

The Twitter-Elon Musk controversy has resisted having a resolution. According to reports, the Tesla creator has now backed out of the $44 billion agreement due to a severance payout made to a whistleblower. According to reports, Musk stated in a letter terminating his employment on Friday that Twitter failed to tell him of the multi-million dollar severance payout offered to Peiter Zatko, Twitter's retiring security head.

According to Musk's legal team, the failure to obtain his permission before paying Zatko gives even another legal justification for ending the April merger agreement he signed with Twitter.

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In response, Twitter attempted to argue that it wasn't liable to inform about the severance package. The Twitter attorney, William Savitt, claimed that "my friend seems to be claiming that Twitter should have gratuitously notified Musk that there existed a disgruntled former employee who made several charges that had been investigated and determined to be without substance."

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It is important to note that after leaving Twitter—or rather, being ousted from the service—Zatko lodged a whistleblower report denouncing the microblogging site's data security policies.

In the meanwhile, Musk's legal team has requested the court to postpone the five-day trial that is scheduled to begin on October 17 so they may look into accusations made by Zatko, popularly known as "Mudge," that Twitter concealed security and data privacy flaws.

Musk, the world's richest man, said in his original termination letter that he was canceling the deal because he was misled by Twitter concerning the number of bot accounts on its platform, allegations rejected by the company.

Also Read | From national security threats to recklessness: Whistleblower ‘exposes’ Twitter

Despite Twitter's assertion that just 5% of accounts are bots, the eccentric billionaire still maintains that the number is closer to 20%. Musk said that Twitter had withheld information about these accounts when he announced in July that he was suspending the transaction agreement. Twitter has asserted that the matter is unconnected to the acquisition with Musk and has sued Musk in order to finalise the purchase.

Also read: Tesla CEO Elon Musk trolled after pulling out of $44 billion Twitter deal

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