Peiter Zatko

Another day, another Elon Musk Twitter story.

The latest developments saw Musk’s legal team send a letter to Twitter in another attempt to terminate the billionaire’s plans to acquire the social media platform.

According to The Verge, Musk’s legal team sent the letter to Twitter’s chief legal officer and filed it with the SEC on September 9th. The document again brings up whistleblower Peiter Zatko, a former company exec. Late last month, Zatko alleged the company lied about bots and security issues. The document states Twitter’s multimillion-dollar severance payment to Zatko breaches the acquisition agreement.

In response, Twitter says it didn’t violate any obligations set out in the agreement. “The purported termination set forth in your September 9th, 2022 letter is invalid and wrongful under the agreement,” the response, filed with SEC on Monday, states.

“Twitter has breached none of its representations or obligations under the agreement, and following the receipt of the approval of Twitter’s stockholders at its September 13th 2022 special meeting, all of the conditions precedent to the closing of the merger will be satisfied.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Zatko will recieve roughly $7 million, a figure related to lost compensation agreed upon before he left his post.

Source: SEC and the Wall Street Journal Via: The Verge

Elon Musk says allegations brought forward by former Twitter executive Peiter “Mudge” Zatko are another reason for his agreement to buy Twitter to be terminated.

A recent filing with the SEC, dated August 29th, states the allegations show Twitter breached six separate provisions, giving Musk the right to terminate the agreement.

You can read more about Zatko’s allegations here.

“The facts supporting these breaches, which were withheld from the Musk parties but known to Twitter as of the date of the merger agreement and at the time of the July 8 termination notice, provided additional bases to terminate the merger agreement as of that date and provide additional bases to terminate the merger agreement today” Musk’s legal team states in the document.

The August 29th document isn’t the first termination letter Musk’s team has filed to back out of the deal to buy Twitter. The first one, filed July 8th, is similar to the most recent letter, as pointed out by The Verge. Both letters contain accusations that Twitter misled the SEC, with the second one including Zatko’s allegations.

In response, Twitter states the August 29th letter is “invalid and wrongful under the agreement.”

“It is 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. Contrary to the assertions in your letter, Twitter has breached none of its representations or obligations under the agreement.”

A Judiciary Committee will investigate Zatko’s explosive allegations on September 13th.

Source: SEC Via: The Verge