Twitter Refutes Elon Musk's Claims of Breach of Agreement Over Whistleblower Payment: Report

Elon Musk attemped to terminate his deal with Twitter on Friday over the payment of $7.75 million (roughly Rs. 60 crore) to a whistleblower without his consent.

Advertisement
Written by David Delima | Updated: 12 September 2022 17:04 IST
Highlights
  • Twitter was sent a fresh letter of termination by Elon Musk last week
  • Musk has claimed Twitter violated the terms of the acquisition deal
  • Twitter has denied it breached the terms of the agreement with Musk

The legal tussle between Elon Musk and Twitter is set to to begin in a US court in October

Photo Credit: Reuters

Twitter reportedly stated that it did not breach any of the terms of its $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,49,900 crore) takeover deal with Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Monday. The microblogging service was accused by Musk of violating the conditions of the deal as he made another attempt to exit the deal. While he has previously claimed that he was misled regarding the number of fake or spam users on Twitter, Musk on Friday cited Twitter's payment of $7.75 million (roughly Rs. 60 crore) to Peiter Zatko as a reason to walk away from the deal. 

According to a report by Reuters, Twitter has responded to a letter sent by Elon Musk's lawyers to Twitter, stating that the company did not breach any of the conditions part of the deal to acquire the microblogging platform that was signed earlier this year.

Advertisement

Musk's lawyers sent a letter to Twitter on Friday, stating that the company had not sought his consent before paying $7.75 million (roughly Rs. 60 crore) to Zatko, according to the report. The Tesla CEO's lawyers have also claimed that Twitter was restricted from making these payments, and the failure to seek his consent was a violation of the merger agreement. 

The whistleblower, who was formerly the head of security at Twitter, was fired in January. Last month, it was reported that Zatko had filed a complaint claiming Twitter misled regulators by stating that it had a solid security plan,with regard to hackers and its handling of spam or fake accounts.

Advertisement

 On Friday, it was reported that Musk's laywers had claimed that the company paid its former chief of security and whistleblower a rum of $7 million (roughly Rs. 55 crore) to remain silent about operational problems within the company.

As per the report, Musk's lawyer Alex Spiro made the claim during a hearing last week ahead of the upcoming October court battle between Elon Musk and Twitter. The report suggests that the whistleblower is Zatko, who is believed to have been paid by the company for lost compensation after leaving the company.

Advertisement


Apple unveiled eight new products at its September ‘Far Out' event. Which ones will float — and which will sink? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
 

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Further reading: Twitter, Elon Musk, Peiter Zatko
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Toshiba Z670SP 65-inch Mini-LED TV Review: Bright, Smooth and Well-Balanced
  2. Xiaomi Power Bank 20000 165W Review: One Brick to Charge It All
  1. Redmi 17C vs Poco M8x vs OnePlus N6x: Price in India, Specifications Compared
  2. Nothing Deals Revealed for Phone 4 Series, CMF Buds Lineup, More Ahead of Flipkart's Big Billion Days Sale
  3. F1 25, Hunt: Showdown 1896 and Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2 Join PS Plus in October
  4. Samsung Galaxy A08 Launched in India With MediaTek Helio G99+ SoC, 6,000mAh Battery: Price, Features
  5. Samsung Galaxy Buds On Unveiled With Clip-On Design, Up to 9.5 Hours of Battery Life: Price, Features
  6. OnePlus Nord Buds 3r Gets Jade Mist Colour Variant in India: Price, Specifications
  7. Crypto Hack Losses Reach $768 Million in September, Marking 2026’s Worst Month
  8. Nike Apex Racing Shoe Launched With Double-Stacked Air Zoom Platform, Carbon Fibre Flyplate
  9. India Sees Stronger Centralised Crypto Exchange Inflows Than Singapore, Australia
  10. Google Announces Gemini 4 Argon With Longer Output Limit: See Features, Availability
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.