Twitter Violated Purchase Agreement by Paying Whistleblower

Proceedings between Twitter and Elon Musk, which began in July this year, continue. The entrepreneur lawyers found a new reason to break the deal. According to them, Twitter paid a large sum to the former employee after the purchase agreement’s conclusion, violating some of its clauses.

In particular, Elon Musk’s lawyers refer to Section 6.1(e) of the agreement concluded between the parties in April. According to the conditions prescribed, the company has no right to pay severance to its employees above the standard amounts. In June, Twitter paid out more than $7 billion to Peiter Zatko, the platform’s former head of security, according to an investigation by Musk’s campaign. According to lawyers, this amount confirms the settlement agreement between the American service and the former employee.

Recall that Zatko previously stated that he knew about the gaps in the platform’s cyber protection from fraudsters, usage of outdated equipment, and hushing up such serious problems. According to him, even the company’s management did not know exactly how many accounts were fake and bots. Such statements are another reason to break the April agreement. After all, even the summer proceedings between the parties ended with the fact that Twitter was obliged to provide Musk with accurate data about the real number of fake accounts.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for October 17th. Both sides called Peiter Zatko as a witness to ask him clarifying questions about cybersecurity. For now, Twitter denies all allegations by the former employee. However, it is not yet clear how the company representatives are going to explain the multibillion-dollar payment, which violates the original agreement.

Do you follow these proceedings? How do you feel about allegations against Twitter about security breaches? Do you continue to use the platform?