In an effort to stop the billionaire’s takeover bid, Elon Musk’s attorneys seized on a Twitter whistleblower’s findings on Wednesday. They tried to get the social media site to hand over a tonne of material.
The Tesla CEO’s legal team informed a US judge that the former Twitter security chief’s claims of significant security flaws and questionable practises had strengthened their case, which had been struggling to get traction in court.
Musk has attempted to break the $44 billion deal by claiming that Twitter deceived him about the number of phoney or spam accounts, which has prompted vehement denials and legal action from the social media company.
In a 90-minute session on what information the company should be required to turn over before their October trial, Musk attorney Alex Spiro frequently referred to Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko.
In court in the eastern state of Delaware, Spiro said, “The way Mr. Zatko puts it, management had no appetite to adequately measure the prevalence of bot accounts.”
Early victories in the case included a fast-track trial date for Twitter, and its stock increased as a result of analysts’ predictions that the platform would triumph over the erratic billionaire.
However,Elon Musk’s attorneys have seized on Zatko’s whistleblower complaint to US authorities, which appeared on Tuesday, to attempt and advance the case.Spiro said that the information is required to demonstrate Twitter was dishonest about spam accounts. He attempted to persuade the judge to force Twitter to turn over billions of “data points,” including user phone numbers and locations.
Bradley Wilson, a lawyer representing Twitter, argued in response that the firm had not misled anyone and that Musk wanted a second chance to ask the questions he should have before making his unsolicited acquisition approach earlier this year.
Twitter has noted that Musk chose not to conduct the standard due diligence associated with merger deals, but Spiro informed the judge that the billionaire trusted the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings (SEC).
