The aftermath of Elon Musk’s failed push to acquire Twitter rumbles on. In the latest twist, Musk has sent a second letter of deal termination to Twitter Inc. This additional correspondence includes a whistleblower complaint that was brought recently from a former security chief with the social media platform.
Musk says this complaint is another reason he is pulling out of the proposed $44 billion transaction. Peiter Zatko, a known hacker who used the name “Mudge” issued a complaint claiming Twitter puts a priority on growing users over reducing spam. Furthermore, he suggests the company also lies about the quality of its security.
If found to be true, the allegations mean Twitter was in breach of the terms and conditions of the merger agreement. Twitter continues to deny such allegations and says the new termination letter is invalid and goes against the provisions of the deal.
To fuel his case, Musk has subpoenaed Zatko to obtain more information about spam account protocol within Twitter.
The Deal
Musk sent shockwaves around the internet when he announced his intentions to purchase Twitter for $44 billion. Elon Musk is a divisive character, and those divisions were apparent with the announcement was made.
Those who like Musk said he would overhaul Twitter based on his promise the platform would become truly free and non-partisan. Those who dislike Musk insisted he would make Twitter worse (it is hard to see how), but also that he really never had any intention to buy the company.
Those suspicions were only increased when Musk indeed chose to terminate the merger in July. He claims the micro-blogging firm misled him and regulators about spam accounts and bots on the site. Musk claims Twitter withheld important information.
In the new regulatory filing this week, Musk’s legal team says this was enough to terminate the deal. A five-day trial is set for October 17 at the Delaware Court of Chancery. Twitter is seeking to force Musk to buy the company for the originally stated price.
Tip of the day: File History is a Windows back up feature that saves each version of files in the Documents, Pictures, Videos, Desktop, and Offline OneDrive folders. Though its name implies a primary focus on version control, you can actually use it as a fully-fledged backup tool for your important documents.
