Whistleblower’s testimony justifies move to kill $44 bn Twitter deal: Elon Musk

San Francisco: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that the testimony of Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko justifies his termination of the $44 billion deal to buy the micro-blogging platform.

In a new termination letter filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Musk’s legal team said that Zatko’s allegations, if true, “demonstrate that Twitter has breached the following provisions of the Merger Agreement, thereby giving the Musk Parties the right to terminate the Merger Agreement pursuant to its terms”.

Musk has to prove to the court that Twitter violated some aspect of the merger agreement, else he will have to shell out a $1 billion fine for cancelling the deal.

“Twitter’s material misrepresentations and/or omissions in the Merger Agreement and Twitter’s 2021 10-K regarding these serious allegations also constitute fraud in the inducement, giving the Musk Parties the right to recission,” read the new termination letter filed with the US SEC late on Monday.

Musk first sent the deal termination letter in July, making accusations that Twitter misled the SEC in its regulatory disclosures.

The new letter has the same charges, adding Zatko’s complaint as additional evidence.

Twitter whistleblower Zatko will appear before the judge in a legal battle between Musk and Agrawal-led micro-blogging platform.

Zatko has alleged that Twitter misled regulators about its security practices and actual number of bot accounts.

Zatko received a subpoena from Musk’s legal team to appear for a deposition on September 9 in the ongoing lawsuit between Twitter and Musk.

The court will also review materials related to the end of Zatko’s employment at Twitter and his ongoing ownership of Twitter shares.

Zatko is also set to testify at US Congress on September 13 about allegation he leveled against the Agrawal-led micro-blogging platform.

–IANS