The billionaire has spent months alleging that Twitter undercounted its pretend and spam accounts.
SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once more filed paperwork to terminate his settlement to purchase Twitter, this time based mostly on information in a whistleblower grievance filed by Twitter’s former head of safety. Twitter fired again by saying his try to again out of the deal is “invalid and wrongful.”
In an SEC submitting Tuesday, Musk stated his authorized staff notified Twitter of “additional bases” for ending the deal on high of those given within the authentic termination discover issued in July.
In a letter to Twitter Inc., which was included within the submitting, Musk’s advisors cited the whistleblower report by former government Peiter Zatko — additionally recognized by his hacker deal with “Mudge.”
Zatko, who served as Twitter’s head of safety till he was fired early this yr, alleged in his grievance to U.S. officers that the corporate misled regulators about its poor cybersecurity defenses and its negligence in trying to root out pretend accounts that unfold disinformation.
MORE: Former Twitter exec blows whistle on cybersecurity, pretend account points
The letter, addressed to Twitter’s Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, stated Zatko’s allegations present additional causes to finish the deal if the July termination discover “is determined to be invalid for any reason.”
Billionaire Musk has spent months alleging that the corporate he agreed to purchase undercounted its pretend and spam accounts, which implies he does not have to undergo with the $44 billion deal. Musk’s choice to again out of the transaction units the stage for a high-stakes legal battle in October.
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In a separate SEC filing, Twitter responded to what it called Musk’s latest “purported termination,” saying it’s “based solely on statements made by a third party that, as Twitter has previously stated, are riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lack important context.”
The company vowed to go through with the sale at the price agreed with Musk.
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