A lawyer for tech tycoon Elon Musk has claimed that social media giant Twitter paid a company whistleblower $7 million to keep quiet.
The assertion was made by Musk's attorney Alex Spiro during a hearing on September 6 — part of the ongoing lawsuit over the Tesla and SpaceX founder pulling out of his $44-billion takeover bid for the Big Tech firm.
"They’re paying the guy $7 million and making sure he’s quiet," Spiro said at the hearing.
News site Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the comment was in reference to whistleblower Peiter Zatko, Twitter's former security chief.
On Thursday The Wall Street Journal quoted other unnamed sources who said Twitter made the $7 million payment to Zatko as part of a settlement over his loss of compensation after leaving the firm.
Those sources said the deal included a confidentiality clause, although it does not stop Zatko from testifying at a looming Senate probe into Twitter.
Musk says the former head of security raised concerns about the number of phony accounts — dubbed "bots" — among Twitter's claimed user base of 230 million, along with problems with electronic security and user privacy. The businessman says he abandoned his takeover after he became aware of the issues Zatko raised.
On Wednesday, Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick granted the Musk team's request to allow Zatko's claims to be admissible in the case, set for October — although she refused a motion to delay the start of the proceedings. Zatko has been subpoenaed to testify in the lawsuit.
Twitter's lawyers tried to cast aspersions on Zatko's credibility at Tuesday's hearing, claiming his warnings were fabricated to damage his former employer.
Musk's attorney countered those arguments by pointing out that Zatko had already settled his dispute with Twitter — but had now raised his concerns with regulators and the US Congress, where he is scheduled to testify to the Senate next week.
"The problem is that they paid him $7 million,” Spiro told McCormick. "The problem is that if he really wanted money, then how come he’s still doing this if he doesn’t want justice also."