Twitter looks to force Elon Musk through $44bn takeover: Report

*Elon Musk cites Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko’s spam bots accusations as a fresh reason to terminate his $44 billion takeover deal for the global tech giant

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

American billionaire businessman Elon Musk and microblogging site and social media platform Twitter are scheduled to face off in a Delaware court from October 17, 2022.

ConsumerConnect gathered the global technology giant looks to force through a $44 billion takeover by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla and world’s richest person.

There were several significant developments this week in the run-up to the trial, including Musk’s attempt to postpone the case by a month.

As the saga unfolded over the past five days, the acquisition feud between Musk and Twitter Monday, August 29 took another twist when his lawyer issued a subpoena to Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko, according to court filings, asking him to appear for a deposition September 9 this year.

The development evolved after Zatko, Twitter’s former Security Chief, recently alleged that Twitter intentionally undercounted and misrepresented the number of spam bots on its platform.

Subsequently, Musk Tuesday cited Zatko’s accusations as a fresh reason to terminate his $44 billion takeover deal for Twitter, agency report said.

Sequel to this move Tuesday, Musk asked the court’s permission to delay the trial by about a month till November this year, reports Reuters, citing a court filing.

The billionaire businessman also asked the judge to let both sides continue briefing their cases until November 10, after which they would meet to discuss what evidence they could introduce at trial.

Musk stated the trial could begin later that month “subject to the court’s availability.”

Accusations about Twitter spam bots

As probably part of what Musk legal team actually seeks to affirm before consummating the acquisition deal, it was learnt that Dan Woods, Global Head of Intelligence at cybersecurity firm F5, who spent more than 20 years at US law enforcement and intelligence organisations, Thursday, September 1, revealed yet more information on the bone of contention between Tesla Chief and Twitter.

Woods reportedly told The Australian that over 80 percent of Twitter accounts were probably spam bots, or 16 times the company’s official estimate of 5 percent.

Musk @elonmusk September 1 further tweeted “Sure sounds higher than 5 percent…. On a $/bot basis, this deal is awesome.