Skip to main content

Elon Musk scores a rare win in Twitter-acquisition lawsuit as the company is ordered to hand over documents from fired general manager

Elon Musk will receive some of the extra information he's demanded from Twitter in its lawsuit against him, and he's trying for even more, Insider has learned.

Judge Kathleen St. Jude McCormick on Monday ordered Twitter to comply in part with a motion to compel from Musk's attorneys. They requested documents from 22 additional Twitter employees they said had information on the company's process of analyzing spam or "bot" accounts. Twitter is already handing over information from some 41 so-called "custodians" of information as part of the case.

Musk's motion to compel for the additional documentation was filed last week confidentially, which means it doesn't appear on the court's docket. Nor did his counterclaims that accuse Twitter of a fraudulent "scheme" around its user numbers and metrics. McCormick's order was made available on the docket.

Musk's attorneys also filed this week another confidential motion to compel, a person familiar with the case said. Musk is now looking to force Twitter to hand over more information on its user data and collection and methods of analysis. Musk has said for months that Twitter has refused to hand over all of the data information he's requested. McCormick is expected to decide on this new motion this week.  In the meantime, Twitter is now "required to collect, review, and produce documents" from Kayvon Beykpour, the platform's former general manager for consumer, the judge's short order said. Beykpour joined Twitter in 2018 under then CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey's replacement, Parag Agrawal, fired Beykpour in May, along with a few other executives. Beykpour tweeted that it was not his decision to leave the company. 

While Musk's attorneys pushed for document production from many additional Twitter employees, McCormick relented only on Beykpour. In his position leading the consumer-product side of Twitter for years, starting as the head of consumer product, Beykpour likely has insight and documentation regarding the bot analyses Musk is looking for. Musk's attorneys also sought information from other employees, ranging from mid-executive level to lower-level employees, a person familiar with the situation said.

McCormick's decision hands Musk a rare win in the lawsuit that Twitter filed last month in an effort to force the billionaire to go through with his agreement to acquire the platform for $44 billion. In the initial hearing between the two sides, McCormick sided with Twitter in agreeing that its case against Musk could proceed to trial by October.

Musk, for his part, seems to have taken a less aggressive stance on Twitter as of late — at least publicly. He hasn't tweeted about the company or the case in almost two weeks. Last week he sold almost $7 billion worth of Tesla shares, saying it was an effort to be prepared if he is ultimately ordered to acquire Twitter.  Twitter's stock has more recently recovered, rising 16% in the past month and inching closer and closer to the $54.20 per share that Musk initially agreed to acquire the company for. Such a rebound is likely to make more difficult any attempt by Musk to argue that the company is simply not worth what he agreed to pay for it. People close to the deal previously told Insider that Musk's sudden obsession with bots being a dealbreaker was a move to simply get the company for less money as the stock market took a turn, which significantly affected his personal wealth.

Musk's fortune is largely tied up in Tesla stock, which has also risen in recent weeks. After dipping to a yearly low in June, shares of Tesla are now just under $928, 24% off their all-time high....


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Government to take greater control of Liverpool city council

Intervention expanded to include financial decisions and governance after report calls for urgent reform.  The government’s intervention in the running of Liverpool city council is to be expanded to include governance and financial decision-making. It comes after the publication of another critical report on the local authority by four commissioners appointed last year to work with the council staff in key areas after an inspection. The report, published on Friday and addressed to the communities secretary, Greg Clark, said certain services were “failing” and in need of “urgent reform”. It warns that poor performance in procurement, finance and auditing are limiting the “council’s ability to operate at a crucial time” and called for an added role of “finance commissioner”.  It comes after a report in June revealed that Liverpool city council’s failure to renew contracts across a number of services could cost it millions. Clark, in a letter to the commissioners, rai...
Post a Comment
Read more

Elon Musk subpoenas former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in takeover dispute

Elon Musk has subpoenaed his friend and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey as part of an effort to back out of his $44bn agreement to acquire the social media platform. The subpoena was revealed in a court document on Monday. Musk and Twitter are embroiled in a legal battle after the billionaire businessman offered to buy the company – then tried to back out, claiming that Twitter had failed to provide adequate information about the number of fake, or “spam bot”, accounts on the platform. Twitter argues that Musk’s reasons for backing out are just a cover for buyer’s remorse.  Twitter and Musk are headed for a 17 October trial in Delaware that should determine whether or not the company can force him to go through with the acquisition. In recent weeks, Twitter has subpoenaed a host of tech investors and entrepreneurs connected to Musk, including the prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, the founding chief operating officer of PayPal.  Bot and sp...
Post a Comment
Read more

China issues alert as drought and heatwave put crops at risk

                                  Good day 😊 Local authorities told to take measures and ‘use every unit of water carefully’ in effort to save autumn harvest  A drought in China is threatening food production, prompting the government to order local authorities to take all available measures to ensure crops survive the hottest summer on record. On Tuesday, four government departments issued an urgent joint emergency notice, warning that the autumn harvest was under “severe threat”. It urged local authorities to ensure “every unit of water … be used carefully”, and called for methods included staggered irrigation, the diversion of new water sources, and cloud seeding.  A record-breaking heatwave combined with a months-long drought during the usual flood season has wreaked havoc across China’s usually water-rich south. It has dried up parts of the Yangtze River and dozens of tributa...
Post a Comment
Read more