Twitter said that payments to a whistleblower did not breach any of its obligations under the $44 billion acquisition proposed by Elon Musk, after the billionaire sent a third letter to try and call off the deal, CNBC reported.
The social media giant said it intends to enforce the agreement and close the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Musk, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. According to CNBC, Twitter shareholders will vote Tuesday on whether to approve or reject Musk’s takeover bid.
The Guardian reported that Twitter’s former head of security, Pieter “Mudge” Zatko, will appear in front of lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday. According to The Guardian, Zatko is expected to give damning evidence of data and information security failings at the social media platform, having outlined a litany of concerns in a whistleblower complaint last month.
The Guardian also reported that the Senate Judiciary committee hearing is not directly for the benefit of Elon Musk, who is trying to pull out of a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter and has been given permission to include Zatko’s revelations as another reason for walking away. According to The Guardian, Musk’s lawyers interviewed Zatko on September 9. But if Zatko’s actions are going to have an immediate impact, it will be at a trial in Delaware on October 17, where Twitter is attempting to force Musk to buy the company under the terms he agreed in April.
The Verge reported that Musk’s legal team cited Twitter’s multimillion dollar severance payment to former security chief and whistleblower Peiter Zatko as a violation of the merger agreement and a reason to end the deal. The letter was dated September 9, and sent to Twitter’s chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde.
According to The Verge, Twitter responded Musk and company on September 12, saying, “As was the case with both your July 8, 2022 and August 29, 2022 purported notices of termination, the purported termination set forth in your September 9, 2022 letter is invalid and wrongful under the Agreement… Twitter has breached none of its representations or obligations under the Agreement.”
Personally, I think this back-and-forth between Twitter and Elon Musk is getting tiring. I cannot see a way for them to work things out that results in making both sides happy. To me, this bickering between the two comes across as petty and annoying. Good luck to the judge who has to make the decision about how this mess gets resolved!