On Tuesday, Sept. 6, Elon Musk's lawyer revealed that Twitter paid $7 million to its former Head of Security, Peiter Zatko, to secure his silence regarding the company's security and privacy problems.
The payment was mentioned in a hearing in the lawsuit between Twitter and Elon Musk over his attempt to cancel a $44 billion deal to acquire the company.
Twitter Paid Peiter Zatko's Silence
According to The Wall Street Journal, the $7 million payment was offered to Zatko in June, and it was related to his lost compensation.
Twitter filed Zatko in January for allegedly declining to lie to the shareholders and board members about the company's state.
Twitter representatives declined to comment about the payment to Zatko, according to Business Standard.
The deal between the social media giant and Zatko did not allow the former Head of Security to speak publicly about the goings-on in the company. Still, it allowed him to act as a government whistleblower about his time on Twitter.
Elon Musk vs. Twitter
Musk backed out from his acquisition of Twitter after he claimed that the social media giant misled him and other investors about the total number of spam and bot accounts on the platform.
Twitter fought back and said that Musk's bot concerns were a pretext to get out of a deal.
Musk and Twitter are preparing for an October trial of Twitter's lawsuit to force Musk to keep his end of the deal.
Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen McCormick approved Musk's request to add Zatko's allegations to his argument in court.
However, the judge denied Musk's request to delay the trial until November.
Musk argues Zatko raised concerns about the number of bots and spam embedded in Twitter's customer base along with allegations of a chaotic company environment and security issues before being firmed from the company.
Meanwhile, Twitter's lawyers aimed at Zatko's credibility during their argument against McCormick, dismissing his complaints as being motivated to harm the company's reputation since he was fired. Twitter also pointed out the inconsistencies in Zatko's claims.
Elon Musk's lawyer, Alex Spiro, defended Zatko by saying that even though he took the $7 million offer, he still approached Congress and regulators with his complaints since he is worried about the state of the company and how the platform poses as a threat to the security of the US.
Zatko is scheduled to testify before a Senate committee on Sept. 13 and has been subpoenaed to testify in the Twitter lawsuit.
Bob Iger on Twitter
On Thursday, Sept. 8, Disney's former CEO Bob Iger revealed that the entertainment giant tried to purchase Twitter in 2016 but was forced to pull the plug due to the bots and hate speech problem.
His sentiments are similar to Musk's claims against the social media platform, according to New York Post.
Iger talked about the failed acquisition of Twitter during a tech conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept.7. He said that he realized a substantial portion of Twitter users were not real.
Related Article: Disney's Former CEO Bob Iger Says He Pulled the Plug on Twitter Acquisition in 2016 Because of Bots
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Written by Sophie Webster
