Twitter said Monday that payments to a whistleblower did not violate any of its duties under Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion takeover, after the billionaire wrote a third letter attempting to cancel the agreement.
Twitter shareholders will vote on whether to accept or reject Musk’s takeover attempt on Tuesday.
Musk’s legal team stated in the letter on Friday that an alleged $7.75 million severance payout from Twitter to whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko is another breach of the takeover agreement.
Twitter said Monday that payments to a whistleblower did not violate any of its duties under Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion acquisition, following the billionaire’s third letter attempting to cancel the agreement.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the social media giant aims to enforce the agreement and close the acquisition on the price and terms agreed upon with Musk.
Twitter shareholders will vote on whether to accept or reject Musk’s takeover attempt on Tuesday.
Twitter’s board of directors has already recommended shareholders to accept Musk’s purchase of the firm.
Musk’s legal team wrote a letter to Twitter on Friday, claiming yet another reason to cancel the potential transaction. Musk’s team claimed that Twitter’s multimillion-dollar payment to whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko violated the terms of the agreement.
Last month, Zatko accused Facebook of “severe, egregious failures” in privacy, security, and content moderation.
Musk’s most recent letter is his third attempt to cancel the Twitter acquisition.
On July 8, Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s legal team filed a notice with the SEC to terminate the Twitter acquisition, claiming that “Twitter has not met with its contractual responsibilities.”
On August 29, a follow-up letter mentioned Zatko’s allegations as a reason why the deal should be cancelled.
Musk’s legal team claimed in Friday’s letter that a purported $7.75 million severance payment from Twitter to Zatko is another infringement of the takeover agreement.
Twitter stated that it has not violated any of its duties.
As was the case with your supposed letters of termination on July 8, 2022 and August 29, 2022, the purported termination set forth in your September 9, 2022 letter is unlawful and unjust under the Agreement,” the social media giant’s legal team wrote to Musk’s attorneys.
“Twitter has broken none of its warranties or commitments under the Agreement, and all of the conditions precedent to the Merger’s closure will be satisfied upon the receipt of Twitter’s stockholders’ approval at its September 13, 2022 special meeting.”
The Twitter-Musk issue has become extremely complex. Musk first proposed purchasing the company in April. Twitter agreed to the arrangement after considerable pushback.
However, Musk soon began protesting that the number of false or spam accounts on the social networking site is more than is revealed.
Unless they reach an agreement first, Twitter and Musk will go on trial in Delaware on Oct. 17 to resolve Musk’s attempt to annul his acquisition of the company.
Musk will be able to include Zatko’s charges in his countersuit.
The situation is compounded by a Twitter shareholder vote on Tuesday, which might approve the acquisition, but the legal dispute still hangs over the agreement.
