Elon Musk is still trying to get out of his Twitter deal, this time with a termination letter citing a whistleblower’s allegations against the social media site. It all started with a tweet from Musk saying he might create his own social media platform. Then, he secretly began buying shares of Twitter. He was invited to join the board but turned it down. Musk put in his initial bid of $43 billion on April 14. Next, Twitter agreed to a $44 billion offer on April 25. It turned out that the wealthiest person in the world didn’t have that on hand to pay for Twitter. He then started selling Tesla stocks and created other funding options to finance the purchase. It seemed like it was a done deal.
Then on May 13, Musk tweeted that the deal was on hold because he didn’t believe Twitter’s data that there were only five percent bots on the service. He wanted to do his own calculations before moving forward. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal eventually gave Musk more data about how the company calculates bots, but that still wasn’t enough for the billionaire. He believed the misinformation was enough for him to drop out of the deal. Finally, on May 26, Twitter shareholders brought a class-action lawsuit against the Tesla CEO to force him to go through with the purchase.
On Tuesday, Musk’s legal team filed a “notice of termination of the deal” with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filing cites the Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko’s allegations against the company about security protocols and not telling regulators and investors about the problems. According to Tech Crunch, Musk’s team also subpoenaed Zatko, “seeking evidence related to spam, security vulnerabilities, alleged foreign pies working at Twitter, and basically anything that might help support Musk’s case.”
What’s Next In Elon Musk’s Twitter Saga?
While it’s unclear if Zatko’s allegations will help Musk’s case, a trial is scheduled for Oct. 17, 2022. However, Musk tried to delay the proceedings, not wanting it to start before Feb. 2023. At the same time, Twitter filed a motion to expedite the case. The judge granted Twitter’s motion. Musk alleges that Twitter has done several things that breach their agreement. Musk has also done things that could be considered a breach of contract. As part of the deal, Musk was required not to speak badly about the company, but he has tweeted several things that would be considered a slight on the social media site. Their deal also states that if one party backs out, they will have to pay the other $1 billion.
Twitter wants this to be done by Oct. 24, which is when the contract says is the latest the deal can close. The Musk/Twitter saga will end one way or another. The court can rule that Musk must go through with the purchase, that Twitter did breach the contract or that Musk did. The other question is, will one party have to pay the $1 billion if the deal falls through? If Musk is ordered to pay, he’s sure to appeal or use his legal team to get out of it.
