UNITED STATES: Twitter shareholders have decided to approve Elon Musk’s offer to purchase the business for $44 billion (£38 billion).
The decision was taken during a brief conference call in the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Legal action against Elon Musk
This indicates that Twitter will now pursue legal action to compel Elon Musk to acquire the business.
The conference came after Peiter Zatko, the former chief of security at the company, gave shocking testimony before the US Senate.
Twitter and Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, reached an agreement in April to sell the firm.
The agreement soured because the Tesla owner claimed the US communications company misled him about the volume of spam and bot accounts using the service.
In May, he stated that he no longer desired to buy the company, but Twitter claims that the SpaceX owner cannot cancel the agreement.
Less than 5% of the social media platform’s monetizable daily active users are bots, according to the company. According to the Tesla owner, it might even be much higher.
The microblogging platform is presently valued at $32 billion, which is far less than Elon Musk’s $44 billion offer.
The outcome of today’s vote might have ended Twitter’s legal action, but now that shareholders have approved it, the corporation is free to sue the business magnate.
In October, the two are scheduled to appear before a Delaware state court. A judge will make a decision regarding Elon Musk’s obligation to purchase the business during the hearing.
A Whistle-blower’s testimony
Pieter Zatko, a Twitter whistleblower, appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington just before the shareholder decision to testify about purported security issues.
He said the company was “misleading the public” about how secure the platform is. He was addressing US senators.
Twitter was “a decade behind” security standards, according to the company’s former chief of security. The company disputes the claims and states that Zatko was sacked from his position.
Although he didn’t go into detail on Tuesday, Zatko has previously backed the business magnate’s assertion that the platform has more spam and false accounts than it has acknowledged.
A judge ruled last week that the business magnate’s attorneys could use the Twitter whistle-blower’s testimony in court.
Also Read: Twitter Sues Elon Musk to Force Him to Accept a $44 Billion Acquisition Offer