Billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a filing cited a Twitter whistleblower’s security concerns as a reason behind his attempt to scrap his planned $44 billion acquisition of the company, while also asking a court this week to delay a five-day trial over his Twitter takeover until November.
In a new SEC filing on Tuesday, Musk informed Twitter’s legal team about additional reasons behind his attempt to scrap the high-profile acquisition, pointing to “certain facts” that “have since come to light” following Musk’s initial move to terminate the deal—and pointing to the issues raised last week by the company’s former head of cybersecurity Peiter Zatko and Twitter’s alleged refusal to deal with them.
In the filing, Musk also accuses Twitter of failing to comply with its 2011 consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission—where the company agreed to step up user privacy and security.
Musk also cites allegations made by Zatko about Twitter’s leadership ignoring its security issues, alleged infringement of third-party intellectual property and its purported decision to hand the Indian government unfettered access to its user data.
The filing claims if Zatko’s allegations are true, Twitter is in breach of the merger agreement it signed with Musk as they would pose “material, if not existential, consequences” to the company’s business.
Musk filed a motion Monday asking Delaware Court of Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick to push back a trial addressing Twitter’s lawsuit against the Tesla CEO from October 17 to an unspecified date in November in light of the claims, while also asking the court for permission to amend his response to Twitter’s initial complaint.