Elon Musk approved to buy Twitter just before it became clear that the company was ordering a whistle-blower to destroy evidence of its missteps as part of a $7.8 million (roughly Rs. 64 crore) separation package. According to court filings, Peiter Zatko, Twitter''s ex-secretary, said he burned 10 handwritten notebooks and deleted 100 computer files at the request of company managers on October3 levels. The documents contained notes from the whistle-blower''s interactions with his
Zatko has been at the core of Musk''s arguments that Twitter misled him about a slew of operation difficulties at the social media platform that resulted in a $44 billion (roughly 3.6 lakh crore) buyout. Last week, the billionaire reversed his course and agreed to buy the company for the original $54.20 (roughly Rs. 4,500) per share price.
In the unsealed filing, Twitter''s attempt to buy Mr Zatko''s silence failed, but it achieved its second objective of ensuring Mr Zatko''s evidence would not be revealed.
Twitter''s response to a request for clarification on the filing, which is part of a Twitter lawsuit aimed at allowing Musk to buy out the product that has since been paused, was incorrect.
Kathaleen StJMcCormick, a Delaware chancery judge, has put the case on hold and set a deadline for Musk and Twitter to complete the transaction on October28. Musk''s lawyers are requesting that McCormick sanction Twitter''s attorneys for ordering the destruction of potential evidence in the case.
When Zatko submitted a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, he warned the US national security that Twitter''s approach to computer security was roiling.
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Twitter has claimed that it fired Zatko in January for poor performance and said that he provided a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices, which is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and lacks appropriate context.
Zatko claims to have warned Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal about serious computer security issues and privacy concerns related to the social media platform''s operations. He added that his Twitter colleagues showed little interest in deep dive into the scope of how many spam and robot accounts were included among the company''s over 230 million users.
According to Musk''s lawyers, Twitter''s top two attorneys, Vijaya Gadde and Sean Edgett, and Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran, along with Agrawal, have accused Twitter of trying to conceal the violations of the legal settlements by requiring Zatko to destroy his documents.
According to the unsealed filing, Musk''s legal team was barred from gathering substantial evidence of Mr Zatko''s allegations.
In a press release, Birchall admitted both his lack of knowledge and his lack of preparation on topic after topic. The company''s legal team said in the filing that Birchall runs Musk''s family office and was deeply involved in the purchase negotiations.
Birchall had no or no information about his communications with government regulators on the proposal, the use of data scientists to analyze the number of spam or robot accounts embedded in Twitter''s customer base, or the Musk side''s efforts to retrieve relevant messages.
A Musk''s lawyer''s spokesperson hasn''t replied to a request for clarification on Twitter''s complaints about Birchall''s deposition performance.
Bloomberg L.P. in 2022