Last month, Zatko made headlines for accusing Twitter of misleading investors about the number of bots on the service, failing to delete user data and poor security practices, among other things. Musk bounced back at the allegations, citing them in his second letter of complaint and subpoenaing Zatko to testify in the lawsuit. Zatko was due to be deposed on Friday. Elon Musk sent his first termination letter in July, saying Twitter misled him about the number of bots on its platform and that the company wouldn’t give him access to the information he needed to make up his own mind. This is despite being given access to the “firehose” API that each tweet contains. On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Twitter had agreed to pay Zatko about $7 million before he left the company, in connection with lost compensation after he and the company negotiated the pay for months. Musk’s lawyers cite that as another reason why his deal to buy the social media company shouldn’t go through. The purchase agreement prohibits Twitter from providing any unusual severance or termination payments. According to the Journal, the settlement isn’t particularly surprising given that Zatko was an executive who was leaving the company, but Musk doesn’t seem to agree. (The letter also states that Musk did not learn of the separation agreement until Twitter filed in court.) Whether Musk is allowed to end the deal is a matter in court in Delaware, after Twitter sued Musk in July for trying to walk away from the deal. Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick has already ruled that Musk will be allowed to use Zatko’s allegations to support his case and that there will be “limited” discovery on documents related to the whistleblower’s report. In August, Musk filed his second termination notice, citing the original reports. The trial is set to begin on October 17. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
