Elon Musk invoked in a new letter to Twitter the accusations made by the company’s former security chief, Peiter Zatko, to justify with additional arguments the abandonment of his takeover plan, initially announced in early July.
“Allegations relating to certain facts, known to Twitter before or on July 8, 2022, but not disclosed to parties representing Musk before or on that date, have since surfaced and provide additional and distinct reasons for terminating the agreement of buyout,” Mike Ringler, one of Musk’s attorneys, wrote in a letter to Twitter’s chief legal officer dated Monday and made public Tuesday.
Ringler talks about the allegations made by Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, the ex-Twitter security chief, who attacked the platform’s failing cybersecurity and accused the leaders of having lied about the means put in place. works to fight against fake accounts and spam.
Claims by Zatko, who presents himself as a whistleblower, were sent to two US regulators as well as the Department of Justice.
The lawyer for the boss of Tesla specifies that these new elements are, according to him, not necessary to justify the breach of the contract, but constitute additional arguments “in the event that the notice of breach of July 8 was deemed invalid, whatever ‘be the reason’.
Musk has also filed a document with the US stock market watchdog, the SEC, warning it of additional reasons for abandoning the acquisition.
In early July, Musk announced he was breaking the takeover agreement with Twitter’s board of directors, accusing the company of failing to meet its commitments by not disclosing the exact number of inauthentic accounts and spam.
This decision had led Twitter to sue the billionaire entrepreneur to force him to honor the terms of the agreement. A trial, which should last 5 days, will begin on October 17 before a specialized court in Delaware.