Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sent Twitter a third notice in a further attempt to terminate his $44 billion acquisition deal. Within the notice, Musk’s legal team cites issues with Twitter’s multimillion-dollar severance payment directed to former security chief and reported whistleblower Peiter Zatko.
Musk and his legal team believe that the severance payment is in direct violation of the acquisition agreement and is caused to dismantle the deal. The letter was sent from Musk’s legal team to Twitter’s chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde on September 9th. Quickly following the weekend, Twitter issued a response, as reported by The Verge.
Twitter filed a response with the SEC on September 12 stating, “As was the case with both your July 8, 2022, and August 29, 2022, purported notices of termination, the purported termination set forth in your September 9, 2022 letter is invalid and wrongful under the Agreement… Twitter has breached none of its representations or obligations under the Agreement”
This is not the first time Musk has attempted to disengage from following through on his acquisition. In July, Musk notified Twitter early on in the deal that the company misled him about the number of active bots and spam accounts. Twitter then attempted to give Musk access to the “firehose” API as a way to mend the situation. However, Musk continued to state he did not have the required access to confirm the accuracy.
A second notice was sent last month. This time, Musk and his legal team determined that recent claims regarding Peiter Zatko created “far-reaching misconduct at Twitter.” Zatko has been accused of misleading investors regarding bots, security, etc. As such Musk believes that the consequences are grounds for Musk to be released from the deal.
Musk and Twitter are set to enter the court on October 17. Judge Kathaleen McCormick will overlook the case and determine whether or not Musk has any grounds to back out of the deal.
