Twitter shareholders approve Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover offer
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Twitter shareholders on Tuesday voted to approve Elon Musk's offer to buy the social media platform for around $44 billion, just weeks before the start of the company's trial against the billionaire for trying to back out of the deal, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: The vote came the same day Peiter Zatko, Twitter's former head of security who released an 84-page whistleblower complaint against the platform last month, testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the national security implications of his claims.
- Musk offered to buy the company in April for a steep premium before attempting to back out of the deal, alleging that Twitter's user base was comprised of more bot accounts than the company claimed.
Driving the news: Zatko's allegations included that the platform violated a 2011 consent decree with the U.S. government, that it can't track and limit employees’ access to its networks, and that it lacks recovery plans if its data centers go down, Axios' Sam Sabin reports.
- He alleged before the Senate committee that the company was informed of agents of the Chinese government working at the social media firm and that some employees had concerns the Chinese government could collect data on the company's users, Reuters reports.
- Zatko further alleged that a Twitter executive knew that at least one agent working for the Chinese government's espionage agency was an employee at the company.
The big picture: If Musk loses the court battle, he could be forced to acquire Twitter, even if he doesn't want it anymore, through a court-enforced merger.
- A Delaware court ruled last week that Musk will be allowed to introduce Zatko's claims into his countersuit against Twitter.
What's next: The trial is expected to begin at Delaware Chancery Court on Oct. 17, unless they settle out of court beforehand.
Go deeper:
- Twitter calls Musk's new argument for terminating merger "invalid"
- Twitter in the political and business world spotlights
- A timeline of the Musk-Twitter deal so far
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new details throughout.
