Musk says Twitter whistleblower payment to scrap merger

WILMINGTON, Sept 10 (Reuters): Elon Musk contended that Twitter Inc's decision to pay millions of dollars to a whistleblower it had fired gives the world's richest person another justification for terminating his $44 billion agreement to buy the social media company.
In a Friday letter to Twitter, lawyers for Musk said Twitter's failure to seek his consent before paying $7.75 million to Peiter Zatko and his lawyers violated the merger agreement, which restricted when Twitter could make such payments.
The payment, which included $7 million for Zatko, "cannot be cured," and Musk is therefore "not required" to complete the merger, the letter said. A copy was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It has said it was committed to completing the merger, which calls for Musk to pay $54.20 per share for the San Francisco-based company. Twitter shares closed Friday at $42.19.