Twitter shareholders voted to approve the sale of the company to Elon Musk for $44 billion.
However, the sale cannot be finalized until Musk’s lawsuit against the social media company is resolved.
Musk has attempted on several occasions to terminate the deal and in his lawsuit says Twitter violated the terms of their purchase agreement by not being forthcoming with documents and information related to how many of the platform’s users are spam or fake accounts.
The company has asserted that not more than five percent of its user base is comprised of spam bot accounts. Musk has issued public statements on the platform saying as many as 90 percent of the comments in response to his posts are bots.
And 90% of my comments are bots 🤖 pic.twitter.com/A7RKyNJZoR
— Naughtius Maximus (@elonmusk) September 5, 2022
“Twitter continues to believe that Mr. Musk’s purported termination of the merger agreement is invalid and without merit, and that the Musk parties continue to be bound by the merger agreement and obligated to complete the merger on the agreed terms and conditions,” Twitter said in a statement released shortly after the acquisition was approved. “Twitter has filed a lawsuit in the Delaware Court of Chancery to compel Mr. Musk to complete the acquisition, and Twitter remains committed to doing so on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk.”
In July, a judge ordered the company’s counter-suit to proceed in October with a five-day trial.
The acquisition votes to complete the platform’s sale were cast on Sept. 13, the same day Peiter Zatko, Twitter’s former head of security, testified in a congressional hearing investigating major security lapses within the company.
Zatko told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that the company misled shareholders, lawmakers, and the public, and that Twitter executives “prioritize profits over security.”
His testimony revealed that roughly 4,000 employees — half of the company’s entire staff — have access to sensitive user data, including phone numbers, addresses, and real-time location data.
Zatko also told congressional leaders that he knew of multiple agents of foreign governments that have been embedded in the company, with full access to user data.
A judge has ruled that Musk is allowed to use information provided by Zatko in the trial, which is set for Oct. 17.
