- Last week, Musk’s lawyers asked for the documents of 22 Twitter employees to be turned over.
- The judge overseeing the case ordered documents from an employee, Kayvon Beykpour.
- Musk is now seeking more information on the data through a supplemental motion filed confidentially.
Elon Musk will get some of the additional information he sought from Twitter in the lawsuit against him, and he’s pushing for more, Insider has learned.
Judge Kathleen St. They requested documents from 22 additional Twitter employees who they said had information about the company’s process for analyzing spam or “bot” accounts. Twitter is already handing over information from about 41 so-called “custodians” of information as part of the case.
Musk’s motion to compel the additional documentation was filed last week in confidence, meaning it is not in the court file. Neither are his counterclaims accusing Twitter of a fraudulent “scheme” around its user numbers and metrics. McCormick’s order was made available on file.
Musk’s lawyers also filed another confidential motion this week to compel him, a person familiar with the matter said. Musk is now seeking to force Twitter to hand over more information on user data, collection and analysis methods. Musk has said for months that Twitter has refused to hand over all the data information he has requested. McCormick is expected to rule on the new motion this week.
Meanwhile, Twitter is now “required to collect, review and produce documents” from Kayvon Beykpour, the platform’s former general manager for consumers, the judge’s brief order said. Beykpour joined Twitter in 2018 under then-CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey’s replacement, Parag Agrawal, fired Beykpour in May, along with several other executives. Beykpour posted on Twitter that it was not his decision to leave the company.
While Musk’s attorneys requested the production of documents from multiple additional Twitter employees, McCormick only regretted Beykpour. In his position running the consumer products side of Twitter for years, starting as head of consumer products, Beykpour likely has the knowledge and documentation about the bot analytics Musk is looking for. Musk’s lawyers also sought information from other employees, ranging from mid-level executives to lower-level employees, a person familiar with the situation said.
McCormick’s decision gives Musk a rare victory in the lawsuit that Twitter filed last month in an attempt to force the billionaire to fulfill his agreement to buy the platform for $44 billion. At the initial hearing between the two sides, McCormick sided with Twitter, agreeing that his case against Musk could continue to trial until 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 nearly two weeks. Last week he sold almost $7 billion worth of Tesla stock, saying it was an effort to prepare if he is eventually ordered to buy Twitter.
Twitter shares have rebounded recently, rising 16% in the past month and getting closer and closer to the $54.20 a share Musk originally agreed to buy the company at. Such a return would likely complicate any attempt by Musk to argue that the company simply isn’t worth what he agreed to pay for it. People close to the deal previously told Insider that Musk’s sudden obsession with deal-breaking robots was a move to acquire the company for less money as the stock market took a turn, which significantly affected his personal wealth.
Musk’s wealth is largely tied up in Tesla shares, which have also risen in recent weeks. After falling to a yearly low in June, Tesla shares are now just under $928, down 24% from their all-time high.
Are you a Twitter employee, or have knowledge to share? Contact Kali Hays at [email protected] in the secure messaging app The signal at 949-280-0267, or via Twitter DM at @hayskali. Contact using a broken device.