A Delaware judge is hearing arguments on the exchange of information from lawyers for Twitter and Elon Musk in an attempt to force the social media giant to accept its $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,59,600 crore) acquisition. Twitter.
Tuesday’s hearing comes three weeks before a scheduled trial in the case.
Musk, the world’s richest man, agreed to buy Twitter and take it private in April, offering $54.20 (about Rs 4400) a share and promising to loosen the company’s content policing and root out fake accounts. In July, Musk indicated that he wanted to walk away from the deal, claiming that Twitter had failed to provide enough information about the number of fake accounts on its platform.
The hearing will begin with arguments by Musk’s attorneys on their answer to the lawsuit and a second motion on their counterclaims against Twitter. Musk’s lawyers want to add details of a severance agreement and $7.75 million (roughly Rs 63 crore) payment to former employee Peter “Maj” Zatko. Musk’s lawyers asserted that Twitter required his consent before making the payment but failed to do so.
Zatko is a cybersecurity expert who was head of security for Twitter until he was fired earlier this year. They filed whistleblower complaints with Congress, the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission in July. The complaint includes several allegations against Twitter, including that CEO Parag Agarwal and other senior executives and board members made false and misleading statements about Twitter’s cybersecurity, privacy and integrity.
Twitter’s lawyers argue that the inclusion of information about Zatko’s separation is a condition for Musk’s lawyers to turn over records of all communications between Musk, his advisers and co-investors since December.
The judge will also hear arguments between Musk and Twitter’s attorneys on several other disputes related to discovery or information sharing. That includes efforts by Musk’s lawyers to obtain more data from a sampling of about 9,000 Twitter accounts in the fourth quarter of 2021, and claims Twitter is withholding too much information as “privileged” or confidential. Musk’s attorneys claim that Twitter is improperly withholding information on user metrics.
Attorneys for Twitter, meanwhile, are asking a judge to sanction Musk’s attorneys for failing to produce responsive phone messages and to order them to comply with a previous discovery order.
