Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Twitter said Monday that payments to a whistleblower did not violate any of its obligations under Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion acquisition, after the billionaire sent a third letter to try and call off the deal.
The social media giant said it intends to enforce the agreement and complete the transaction on the prices and terms agreed with Musk, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Twitter shareholders will vote on Tuesday to accept or reject Musk’s takeover bid.
Twitter’s board of directors has previously asked its shareholders to approve the sale of the company to Musk.
On Friday, Musk’s legal team sent a letter to Twitter giving another reason for canceling the proposed acquisition. Musk’s team claimed that the multimillion-dollar payment Twitter made to whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko violated the terms of the deal.
Zatko last month alleged the social media company’s “extreme, egregious shortcomings” in privacy, security and content moderation.
Musk’s latest letter is his third attempt to call off the Twitter deal.
The Tesla CEO’s legal team first filed a notice with the SEC on July 8 to end the Twitter acquisition, alleging that “Twitter has failed to meet its contractual obligations.”
A follow-up letter dated August 29 cited allegations from Zatko as the reason the deal should not go through.
In Friday’s letter, Musk’s legal team said an alleged $7.75 million severance payment from Twitter to Zatko was another breach of the acquisition agreement.
Twitter said it had not breached any of its commitments.
“As was the case with both your alleged terminations dated July 8, 2022 and August 29, 2022, the alleged termination set forth in your letter dated September 9, 2022 is void and unlawful under the Agreement,” wrote the social media giant’s legal team as Musk’s representatives.
“Twitter has not breached any of its representations or obligations under the Agreement, and upon receipt of Twitter shareholder approval at the special meeting on September 13, 2022, all conditions precedent to the completion of the merger will be satisfied.”
The Twitter Musk saga has gotten very complicated. Musk originally proposed buying the company in April. After some resistance, Twitter approved the deal.
Shortly thereafter, however, Musk complained that the number of fake or spam accounts on the social media platform was higher than disclosed.
Twitter and Musk will face a court hearing in Delaware on Oct. 17 over Musk’s attempt to call off his takeover of the company unless they reach an agreement first.
Musk may include Zatko’s allegations in his counterclaim.
Matters are complicated by a Twitter shareholder vote on Tuesday that could greenlight the acquisition, but the court case is still pending on the deal.