Twitter Whistleblower Becomes Crucial Pawn Of Elon Musk's Case Despite His Pact With The Company

Twitter Inc TWTR agreed in June to pay $7 million to the whistleblower whose allegations will be part of Tesla Inc TSLA chief Elon Musk’s case against the company, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Twitter completed the settlement days before Peiter Zatko filed his whistleblower complaint in July. 

Zatko is the hacker who was Twitter’s security head before being fired in January. 

Also Read: Why This Twitter Analyst Says Whistleblower A ‘Huge Potential Win’ For Elon Musk

In his whistleblower complaint, Zatko accused Twitter of failing to protect sensitive user data and lying about its security problems.

The settlement concerned Zatko’s lost compensation and followed monthslong mediation over tens of millions of dollars in potential pay.

Zatko agreed to a nondisclosure agreement that forbids him from speaking publicly about his time at Twitter. However, the agreement exempted him from Congressional hearings and governmental whistleblower complaints.

Zatko will testify before the U.S. Senate on September 13 to discuss his allegations of security failures at Twitter. On the same day, Twitter shareholders will vote on Musk’s proposed takeover of the social-media company.

Twitter prosecuted Musk after he attempted to back out of his proposed takeover, who argued that Twitter misrepresented its business, particularly regarding the level of spam or bot accounts, which Twitter denied.

Musk’s team has argued that the whistleblower claims could support its allegations against Twitter. Twitter’s team countered by describing Zatko as an aggrieved former employee.

Price Action: TWTR shares closed higher by 1.54% at $41.84 on Thursday.

Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay