Tesla CEO Elon Musk asked a court to delay his trial with Twitter concerning his acquisition of the social media company until November following claims by a whistleblower who said the company made false claims about the strength of its security.
On Tuesday, Musk filed a motion to amend a complaint in a
sealed filing, Reuters reported.
The filing came a week after Peiter Zatko, Twitter's former
head of security, said the company has "extreme, egregious
deficiencies" related to cybersecurity issues that put the platform's
users and national security at risk and that the company showed
"negligence and even complicity" concerning efforts by foreign
governments to "infiltrate, control, exploit, surveil and/or censor the
company’s platform, staff, and operations."
The claim could complicate Musk's legal case against
Twitter. He has accused the platform of misrepresenting the number of spam and
fake accounts after it accepted his $44 billion acquisition offer earlier this
year.
Twitter maintains that spam and fake accounts make up less
than 5% of its users.
Musk notified Twitter in July that he would terminate the
deal due to the dispute over spam and fake accounts and issued a separate
termination notice on Monday, citing the allegations from Zatko's 84-page
complaint.
Musk and Twitter's legal battle is slated to begin in
Delaware Court of Chancery on Oct. 17. Zatko has been subpoenaed by Musk's
legal team to testify in a deposition.
Twitter is asking a judge to compel Musk to close the deal
for $54.20 per share while he seeks to avoid a $1 billion fine to walk away
from the purchase, Reuters reported.
In addition, Zatko will testify before the Senate Judiciary
Committee on Sept. 13 — the same day that Twitter will hold a special meeting
with shareholders to vote on the deal.
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