WILMINGTON: Elon Musk, a billionaire, alleged in a court declaration submitted on Thursday that Twitter Inc. committed fraud by concealing significant data security flaws, which the businessman claimed should have allowed him to cancel his $44 billion acquisition agreement with the company.
Musk, the world’s richest man, updated a previous complaint he had made by including allegations made by a Twitter whistleblower who on Tuesday notified Congress of foreign agents’ influence on the key social media network.
A 2011 agreement between Twitter and the Federal Trade Commission involving user data was allegedly broken, according to the CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc. The updated counter-suit stated that the Musk Parties “have the complete right to walk away from the Merger Agreement — for various independently sufficient grounds” as a result of the most recent revelations.
The charges were made by Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a former Twitter security director, and in Musk’s opinion, they constitute fraud and a violation of Twitter’s contract. Musk has asked a Delaware judge to find that he was not compelled to complete the transaction, despite Twitter’s request for the judge to order Musk to purchase the company for $54.20 per share. Late Thursday trading saw a 0.6% increase in Twitter shares.
