Elon Musk’s lawyers have filed a fresh notice to terminate his $44 billion buyout of Twitter, citing whistleblower testimony by the platform’s former security chief as “distinct” justification for scrapping the deal, IgbereTV reports
The termination letter, made public Tuesday, argued that the allegations made by Peiter Zatko would, if true, place Twitter in violation of the initial takeover agreement.
The billionaire Tesla founder has been locked in a bitter legal battle with the social messaging platform since announcing in July that he was pulling the plug on his purchase of the company following a complex, volatile, months-long courtship.
Musk’s decision was partially founded on the allegation that he had been misled by Twitter concerning the number of bot accounts on its platform — a charge strongly denied by the company which is suing the tycoon to compel him to go through with his buyout at the agreed price.
Zatko’s testimony in August had appeared to bolster Musk’s argument, referencing “extreme, egregious” gaps in the platform’s online protections and accusing Twitter of significantly underestimating the number of fake and spam accounts.
In their new termination notice — sent to Twitter and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission — Musk’s lawyers said the Zatko revelations illustrated “far-reaching misconduct” at Twitter that would likely have “severe consequences” for future business.
