--- title: Musk Cites Whistleblower in Effort to Scrap Twitter Deal description: Elon Musk has cited the recent accusations from a Twitter whistleblower as a new reason to terminate his takeover of the company canonical: https://time.com/6209537/elon-musk-whistleblower-twitter/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-08-30T12:50:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:52:46.481Z article:section: Business og:title: Musk Cites Whistleblower in Effort to Scrap Twitter Deal og:description: Lawyers on behalf of Musk said the whistleblower's allegations meant that Twitter had breached the conditions in the merger agreement og:url: https://time.com/6209537/elon-musk-whistleblower-twitter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73222588facfb385/698a34fe929fadb128bf8f3a/GettyImages-1242720054-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Elon Musk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Musk Cites Whistleblower in Effort to Scrap Twitter Deal twitter:description: Lawyers on behalf of Musk said the whistleblower's allegations meant that Twitter had breached the conditions in the merger agreement twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73222588facfb385/698a34fe929fadb128bf8f3a/GettyImages-1242720054-1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Elon Musk Cites Whistleblower in Effort to Scrap Twitter Deal by [Giles Turner/Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Giles Turner/Bloomberg Aug 30, 2022 12:50 PM CUT  Elon Musk walks on stage during a T-Mobile and SpaceX joint event on August 25, 2022 in Boca Chica Beach, Texas. Elon Musk walks on stage during a T-Mobile and SpaceX joint event on August 25, 2022 in Boca Chica Beach, Texas.Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images by [Giles Turner/Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Giles Turner/Bloomberg Aug 30, 2022 12:50 PM CUT Elon Musk has cited the recent accusations from a Twitter Inc. whistleblower as a new reason to terminate the $44 billion takeover of the social media platform. **Read more:** [_What the Twitter Whistleblower Bot Disclosures Mean for Elon Musk_](https://time.com/6207992/twitter-bots-elon-musk/ "undefined") [Peiter Zatko](https://time.com/6208696/twitter-whistleblower-peiter-mudge-zatko-musk-interview/ "undefined"), Twitter’s ex-head of security, claimed he raised questions about severe shortcomings in the social media company’s handling of users’ personal data, including running out-of-date software and that executives had withheld information about breaches and lack of protections for user data. In a filing on Tuesday, lawyers on behalf of Musk said the allegations by Zatko, including [“egregious deficiencies”](https://time.com/6207996/twitter-whistleblower-allegations/ "undefined") in the platform’s defenses against hackers and privacy issues, meant that Twitter had breached the conditions in the merger agreement. **Read more:** [_The Biggest Allegations From the Twitter Whistleblower_](https://time.com/6207996/twitter-whistleblower-allegations/ "undefined") Twitter shares fell 1.3% in premarket trading on Tuesday before New York exchanges opened, to $39.50, far below Musk’s offer price of $54.20. Musk has been attempting for months to try and extract himself from the takeover of Twitter, initially leading with the claim that Twitter’s user figures are inflated by millions of robot accounts. The billionaire’s legal team has recently switched its attention to Zatko, who was fired from Twitter earlier this year. Lawyers for both Musk and Twitter have subpoenaed Zatko, who said the social-media platform’s officials didn’t know or care to find out how many accounts were spam or robot accounts. Twitter, which has maintained that spam and bots make up fewer than 5% of accounts, sued Musk in July to force him to complete his proposed acquisition. Since then, more than 100 people, banks, funds and other firms have been subpoenaed in the Delaware suit, with a trial scheduled to begin Oct. 17. **Read more:** [_The Twitter Whistleblower Needs You to Trust Him_](https://time.com/6208696/twitter-whistleblower-peiter-mudge-zatko-musk-interview/ "undefined") A Twitter spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously called Zatko’s complaint “a false narrative about Twitter and our privacy and data security practices that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important context.” The new findings add to Musk’s claims, according to the letter published Tuesday, showing that Twitter is in “material noncompliance” with obligations around data privacy and consumer protection laws and that the company is vulnerable to data center failures and malicious actors. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6209537/elon-musk-whistleblower-twitter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6209537/elon-musk-whistleblower-twitter/"},"headline":"Elon Musk Cites Whistleblower in Effort to Scrap Twitter Deal","datePublished":"2022-08-30T12:50:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:52:46.481Z","description":"Lawyers on behalf of Musk said the whistleblower's allegations meant that Twitter had breached the conditions in the merger agreement","url":"https://time.com/6209537/elon-musk-whistleblower-twitter/","keywords":["Tech","Social Media","Companies","biztech2030"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73222588facfb385/698a34fe929fadb128bf8f3a/GettyImages-1242720054-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Giles Turner/Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73222588facfb385/698a34fe929fadb128bf8f3a/GettyImages-1242720054-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Elon Musk","caption":"Elon Musk","creditText":"Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6209537/elon-musk-whistleblower-twitter/","name":"Elon Musk Cites Whistleblower in Effort to Scrap Twitter Deal"}}]}] ```