Disney: Elon Musk calls for boss to be fired over ad spat

Elon Musk has said Disney boss Bob Iger should be “fired immediately” after the company stopped advertising on X.

“Walt Disney is turning in his grave over what Bob has done to his company,” Mr Musk said in a series of posts against the media giant.

It comes just a week after he told companies that joined an ad boycott of his platform, formerly known as Twitter, to “Go [expletive] yourself”.

Some firms have paused advertising on X amid concerns over antisemitism.

Disney did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment on Friday.

Mr Iger made a shock return to Disney just over a year ago – less than 12 months after retiring – to steer it through turbulent times, as its share price plummeted and streaming service Disney+ continued to make a loss.

In his time at the company, he has been credited for driving major acquisitions involving the likes of animation studio Pixar, comic book company Marvel, Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and Lucasfilm, the home of Star Wars.

These moves, as well as amusement park openings, helped the company’s market value increase five-fold.

In a post on Thursday, Mr Musk appeared to allude to the recent box-office performances of some Disney firms, saying Mr Iger dropped “more bombs than a B-52”.

The multi-billionaire also accused Disney of advertising on other social media platforms that allowed controversial materials.

Last week, in a profanity-laced outburst at an event in New York, Mr Musk slammed advertisers that had left X and warned that they would kill the social media platform.

He also accused companies including Disney, Apple and Comcast, which have paused advertising on the site, of trying to blackmail him.

“I don’t want them to advertise,” Mr Musk said in response to a question at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit.

“If someone is going to blackmail me with advertising or money go [expletive] yourself.

“Go. [Expletive]. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel.

“Mr Musk was apparently referring to Mr Iger, who spoke at the summit earlier in the day.

X’s chief executive Linda Yaccarino, who also attended the summit, has since reposted what she called Mr Musk’s “candid interview”.

She added her perspective on advertising that “X is standing at a unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street — and the X community is powerful and is here to welcome you”.

Mr Musk has been on a visit to Israel after he appeared to personally back an antisemitic conspiracy theory last month. He denied the post was antisemitic but apologised, saying it might have been the “dumbest” thing he had ever shared online.

However, many advertisers had already chosen to spend their money elsewhere.In July, Mr Musk acknowledged in a post on X that ad revenue had fallen by 50%.

Elon Musk announces change of Twitter’s bird logo to X

Elon Musk, on Sunday, announced plans to change the microblogging site Twitter’s bird logo to X.

Mr Musk’s action would be the latest in a series of controversial shake-ups to the social media platform under his stewardship since he acquired the social media platform for $44 billion last October.

In a thread of tweets, Mr Musk said the change would be made on Monday to replace the blue bird logo with the X logo.

“And soon we shall bid adieu to the Twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Mr Musk tweeted.Mr Musk had earlier changed the company’s official name in April to X Holdings Corp, after his venture X.com, to reflect his vision of creating ‘X’, the everything app performing social media and payment functions similar to China’s WeChat.

Linda Yaccarino, Twitter’s chief executive, confirmed the launch of the X brand on Sunday. Ms Yaccarino tweeted, “It is an exceptionally rare thing – in life or business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression.

Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square.”

She explained that the new logo would be “centred in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking” and would be a “global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”

Despite laying off half of the company’s staff after the acquisition, Mr Musk recently revealed that the site remained cashflow-negative with a heavy debt burden after losing half of its advertising revenue.

Twitter removes New York Times verification for rejecting Blue subscription

Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, has stripped the New York Times account of its verification badge after the news platform opposed the mandatory $1,000 monthly subscription payment to keep the badge.

The New York Times, a popular newspaper based in the U.S. with correspondents across the world, had objected to paying the fee to retain the verification badge it had freely enjoyed for years.

In response to the objection, Mr Musk swiftly took down the badge but not before launching a barrage of insults at the newspaper.

“The real tragedy of @NYTimes is that their propaganda isn’t even interesting”, Mr Musk tweeted Sunday morning.

“Also, their feed is the Twitter equivalent of diarrhea. It’s unreadable.”As part of the sweeping changes Mr Musk introduced to Twitter since he purchased it last October, he has mandated organisations to henceforth pay a $1,000 monthly fee to keep their verification ticks and pay extra $50 monthly charge for affiliated staff members, a move The Times explicitly opposed.

The Times further said it would not pay or reimburse reporters who subscribe to Twitter Blue except in “rare instances where this status would be essential for reporting purposes,” according to the newspaper’s spokesperson.

The main Twitter account for The Times no longer has the blue tick, checks by Peoples Gazette showed on Sunday.

However, New York Times Opinion, New York Times Travel, offshoots of The Times, still retained their gold verification ticks.The removal of verification badges from popular organisations may make it easy for impostors to pose as the legitimate ones.

CNN, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times have also taken a similar stance on the matter, refusing to pay the fee which may soon lead to the removal of their verification badges.

Elon Musk’s satellite service Starlink now active in Nigeria

The operational service of Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink, has been announced to be officially active for customers in the country.

This came a few weeks after the company (Starlink) announced its pre-order sales.

The satellite service company (Starlink) had reportedly disclosed that interested customers could preorder the device hardware at $600 while stating that the device subscription service would cost $43 every month.

In a Twitter post on Tuesday, the parent company of Starlink (SpaceX) confirmed that its service is now active for use in the country.

“Starlink is now available in Nigeria – the first African country to receive service,” the tweet said.

The company also disclosed to customers via its website that users will have a 30 days trial with its device.

Reacting to the development, the minister of communication and digital economy, Isa Pantami, described the official deployment as a great achievement.

“We have made it again. @SpaceX thank you for hosting me in your headquarters, United States in December 2022 to complete the logistics for the deployment,” he tweeted.

In 2022, talks to secure licences to launch the Starlink service kicked off between the company and the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC).

The company, a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, launched in 2019, provides satellite internet access coverage to about 46 countries, also targeting the global mobile phone service after 2023.

British landlord sues Twitter over unpaid rent

Twitter’s British landlord on Tuesday said it was taking the social media site to court for not paying rent on its central London offices.

The Crown Estate, a company that manages land and property belonging to the British monarchy, said it had launched a legal action at the High Court for rental arrears on an office space close to Piccadilly Circus.

A representative said that it had contacted Twitter previously and is currently in discussions with the company.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, bought Twitter for $44 billion (£35 billion) in October last year.

He sacked half of the staff and reportedly stopped paying rent for office space to try to raise funds after taking on massive debt to buy the company.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday that the landlord of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters has sued the company for allegedly failing to pay almost $6.8 million in rent for December and January.

Twitter has a London office in a complex on Air Street called Air W1, whose landlord is the Crown Estate.

The Daily Telegraph reported that Twitter’s signs and logos have been removed but a member of staff said the company was still present there.

Twitter UK began using this office in 2014, according to Companies House, which gives this as its registered address.

The Crown Estate is an independently managed portfolio of land, property and other assets belonging to the monarchy.Its commercial income goes to the Treasury and the monarch receives an annual allowance of 15 per cent of its profits called the Sovereign Grant.

The Crown Estate says it owns more than 2.6 million square feet (241,550 square metres) of office space in central London

Elon Musk reveals Twitter users will soon be able to bold and italicise words

Elon Musk says Twitter users will soon be able to bold and italicise words.

The billionaire has been bringing in several changes to Twitter following his $44-billion takeover last year.

While some changes, such as the monetisation of the blue tick, might not be appreciated by everyone, some changes are handy and demanded by users for years.

One of them is the ability to post texts in bold and italics. Musk confirmed that this feature could be introduced soon.

At the moment, users can post tweets in bold and italics, but only via a third-party tool.

Elon Musk becomes first person in history to lose $200b

Billionaire Elon Musk, formerly the richest man in the world, has broken a new record as the first person in history to lose $200 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, the Tesla founder and Twitter owner lost $200 billion off his net worth.

It was gathered that Musk’s wealth plummeted to $137 billion following the decline in Tesla shares in recent week. This includes a massive 11 per cent fall in Tesla shares on December 27.

Tesla is now offering consumers in the United States a $7,500 discount for its two highest-volume models before year-end.Recall Musk’s fortune topped at $340 billion in November 2021.

On the back of this, he was the world’s richest person for more than a year at a stretch.

The new Twitter owner was then overtaken this month by Bernard Arnault, the French business magnate and co-founder of luxury goods powerhouse LVMH.

Kanye West mocks Elon Musk and Barack Obama Instagram after Twitter ban

Kanye West surfaced on Instagram Sunday night, Dec. 4, to post a bizarre rant about Elon Musk and former President Barack Obama.

In his post, West accused Musk of being a hybrid clone.

Musk replied to Kanye’s post, writing: “I take that as a compliment.” Kanye then shared a screenshot of Musk’s response and wrote: “It was meant as a compliment my friend. Now, Obama on the other hand…”

Kanye West, whose Twitter account was reinstated after Elon Musk took over, has been suspended again from Twitter for violating the microblogging site’s rules against incitement to violence.

Kanye West gets suspended as he trolls shirtless Elon Musk in his last tweet

American rapper, Kanye West, has been suspended on Twitter after launching a two way Twitter tirade on his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, as well as the new owner of the social media platform, Elon Musk.

In tweets posted in the early hours of Friday, Kanye claimed that he caught basketballer, Chris Paul, with his ex-wife.

Although he shared Paul’s image, he didn’t indicate when the incident happened.

Trolling Musk, the rapper shared an image showing the billionaire shirtless while on water and said, “Let’s always remember this as my final tweet.” Musk in the comment section said, “That is fine.”

West account has been suspended.

Elon Musk Warns Users Of Possible Drop In Followership

The Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, Elon Musk, has notified users that the number of their followers may drop.

The Twitter CEO said this in a tweet he shared via his Twitter handle on Thursday.

He stated that the decrease is due to the removal of some spam accounts saying, “Twitter is purging a lot of spam/scam accounts right now, so you may see your follower count drop.”

Musk announces gold, grey, blue badges for Twitter

Twitter’s billionaire owner Elon Musk announced Friday that the platform would be launching differently colored badges to distinguish between accounts.

“Sorry for the delay, we’re tentatively launching Verified on Friday next week,” he tweeted.

“Gold check for companies, grey check for government, blue for individuals (celebrity or not) and all verified accounts will be manually authenticated before check activates.”

In another tweet, Musk said all verified individual accounts would have the same blue check, but some would eventually be able to display a “secondary tiny logo showing they belong to an organisation.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss’ proposal for users to be able to pay to be “verified” and obtain a blue badge on their profiles has caused confusion since he acquired the social media giant last month.

Musk proposed a subscription fee of $8 a month to allow users to obtain the blue check – which was previously free but reserved for organisations and public figures in an attempt to avoid impersonation and misinformation.

The first rollout of Musk’s subscription plan in early November quickly went south, with many accounts paying for the blue check and then impersonating world leaders, celebrities or companies.

Responding to the backlash, Musk initially postponed the launch date to November 29, before delaying it once more. It now appears the feature will launch on December 2.

Musk has said he wants to charge users for subscriptions to the social media platform to diversify its income stream.

Twitter currently depends on advertising for 90 per cent of its revenue.Several major brands have withdrawn from advertising on the platform since Musk bought it, fearing that his promised relaxation of content moderation could open their companies up to being associated with objectionable content.

According to the NGO Media Matters, half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have announced that they are suspending or “have apparently suspended” their spending on the social network.

Elon Musk warns of Twitter bankruptcy as more senior executives quit

Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk has raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt.

Bloomberg News reports that the world’s richest man on his first mass call with employees said that he could not rule out bankruptcy, two weeks after buying it for $44 billion – a deal that has left Twitter’s finances in a hard position.

In his first email to all Twitter staff, Musk warned that Twitter would not be able to “survive the upcoming economic downturn” if it fails to boost subscription revenue to offset falling advertising income.

The mail comes after Yoel Roth, who the head of Twitter’s response to combat hate speech, misinformation and spam, resigned on Thursday, whileTwitter’s Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner tweeted that she had quit.

Also, the company’s Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty also resigned, according to an internal message posted to Twitter’s Slack messaging system on Thursday by an attorney on its privacy team.

Following the mass resignations, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it was watching Twitter with “deep concern” after the three privacy and compliance officers quit.

The resignations put Twitter at risk of violating regulatory orders.We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,”

Douglas Farrar, the FTC’s director of public affairs, told Reuters.

“No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees. Our revised consent order gives us new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them,” Farrar said.

Reacting to possibility of being fined by the US Federal Trade Commission Musk attorney Alex Spiro told some employees in an email late on Thursday that Twitter would remain in compliance.

“We spoke to the FTC today about our continuing obligations and have a constructive ongoing dialogue,” Spiro wrote.

He stated that only Twitter, not individual employees, could be held liable against the orders.

“I understand that there have been employees at Twitter who do not even work on the FTC matter commenting that they could (go) to jail if we were not in compliance – that is simply not how this works,” he wrote.

Musk ruthlessly moved layoff staff after taking over on Oct. 27 and has said the company was losing more than $4 million a day, largely because advertisers started fleeing once he took over.

Twitter has $13 billion in debt after the deal and faces interest payments totaling close to $1.2 billion in the next 12 months.

The payments exceed Twitter’s most recently disclosed cash flow, which amounted to $1.1 billion as of the end of June. Musk has also begun charging $8 a month for the Twitter Blue service.

Elon Musk sells $4 bilion worth of Tesla shares after Twitter takeover as his net worth plummets to $200 billion

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk has reportedly sold about 19.5 million shares of the company ever since he reached a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion

According to The Verge, these shares are close to worth $4 billion as per the forms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The report adds that Musk has offloaded almost $20 billion in the electric vehicle maker this year.

All this offloading has been reportedly done to mostly finance the Twitter deal which was worth $44 billion.

In April and August, Elon Musk has sold a combined $15.4 billion worth of Tesla shares, with $8.4 billion in April and around $6.9 billion in August.

However, after these sales, he said that there were no more sales planned. With regards to these sales, Musk also tweeted,

“No further TSLA sales planned after today.” His takeover of Twitter has also invited drastic measures like the sacking of almost 50 per cent of Twitter’s workforce, a verification fee.

According to a Reuters report, Musk’s net worth also dropped below $200 billion on Tuesday as investors dumped Tesla’s shares on fears of the Chief Twit being more preoccupied with Twitter.

The report reads,

“Now Wall Street fears that Musk has stretched himself too thin at a time when the EV maker is ramping up production and faces rising competition.”

Musk now has a net worth of $197.4 billion, according to Forbes, with a big share of that coming from his nearly 15 percent stake in Tesla, which has a market value of $622billion.

Twitter suspends Kathy Griffin’s account for impersonating Elon Musk

Twitter has suspended Kathy Griffin for impersonating the company’s new owner, Elon Musk.

The American comedian and actress, 62, changed her profile name to Musk to mimic the Twitter owner after which she flaunted her account’s new look by urging users to #VoteBlue and check out Twitter competitor, Mastodon.

“After much-spirited discussion with the females in my life, I’ve decided that voting blue for their choice is only right. (They’re also sexy females, btw.) #VoteBlueToProtectWomen,” Griffin tweeted.

The suspension came after Musk indicated he was taking his “Chief Tweet” role seriously as he addressed fake accounts just weeks after officially acquiring Twitter for $44 billion.

“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” he wrote Sunday night.

“Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning.

This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.”

Musk is launching an $8 monthly subscription service where any Twitter user may be able to easily attain a blue checkmark symbol.

Supermodel Gigi Hadid quits Twitter

27-year-old supermodel, Gigi Hadid has quit Twitter after billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover.

Hadid made the announcement on Instagram. She said she deactivated her Twitter account on Friday November 4, amid the mass layoffs, including the human rights team.

She wrote;

“For a long time, but especially with its new leadership, it’s becoming more and more of a cesspool of hate & bigotry, and its not a place I want to be a part of.”

Hadid also apologized to her fans on the platform, adding that she loved connecting with them.

She added;

“I can’t stay it’s a safe place for anyone, nor a social platform that will do more good than harm.”

Elon Musk to sack half of Twitter staff and end working from home in a bid to reduce costs

Elon Musk is planning to sack half of Twitter staff and end working from home in a bid to reduce costs following his tumultuous $44bn takeover.

The Tesla chief will reportedly announce the redundancies affecting 3,700 staff on Friday November 4, and force employees back into the office from Monday.

This is coming days after he sacked Twitter’s senior leadership team, including its chief executive, and a number of other high-profile executives have resigned since he took over the company.

Their most recent departures include their head of accounting, head of marketing, and advertising chief.

Musk will lay out plans to reduce the workforce by half this Friday, Bloomberg reported.

Laid-off workers will be offered 60 days’ worth of severance pay, Twitter sources told Bloomberg.

Musk previously denied reports that up to 75% of Twitter staff could be let go. The mogul will also end the social media company’s “work from anywhere policy,” brought in after the coronavirus pandemic, on Monday.

Bloomberg reported that Tesla engineers had been brought in to review Twitter’s code and that engineering lay-offs were being decided based on employees’ contributions.

Twitter’s top executives were reportedly sacked for “good cause,” meaning they could be denied a $100m payout. The news comes amid concerns from advertisers and civil liberties groups that Musk’s plan to promote free speech on the social network could lead to an increase in hate speech.

He is also considering removing permanent bans on hundreds of accounts, including former US President Donald Trump.

Twitter to start charging $20 per month for verification under Elon Musk’s ownership

Twitter plans to start charging nearly $20 a month for users to stay verified. This is part of a premium service that will be rolled out under Elon Musk’s leadership, according to a report.

“The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk, who took over as the CEO of the social media platform Friday, October 28, tweeted Sunday, October 30.

The company also plans to raise its optional $4.99-a-month premium subscription called Twitter Blue to $19.99 a month.

However, that price is subject to change, The Verge reported, citing internal correspondence and people familiar with the matter.

Twitter will add more features, including verification, to bring its subscription up to par with the cost hike. Elon Musk plans to make verified users pay money to keep their verified status.

Existing verified users have 90 days to subscribe to the new Twitter Blue after its launch or they’ll lose their blue checkmarks, according to The Verge.

The current Twitter Blue launched about a year ago and offers subscribers a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers as well as additional customization settings.

Musk has been outspoken about his desire to grow subscription numbers to account for half of Twitter’s revenue as well as his eagerness to overhaul the platform’s verification process.

Elon Musk explains why he is buying Twitter, as he appeals to advertisers

With his deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion set to close on Thursday, October 27, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk has appealed to advertisers saying that he is buying Twitter because it is a cornerstone of civilization and that it would help humanity.

Musk’s appeal comes amid claims that he will turn the company into a cesspool of free-for-all commentary, and that many people with extremist views may have freedom to post when he becomes the owner, a move that will put off advertisers.

Posting on his Twitter handle on Thursday October 27, Musk promised that Twitter will not be free for all after he acquires it.

‘Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all,” he tweeted via a note.

“Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise. To everyone who has partnered with us, I thank you. Let us build something extraordinary together.

“In his note, Musk comes across as a more serious owner of Twitter compared to his joke earlier in the day when he tweeted the video of him entering the Twitter HQ with a toilet sink. He captioned his tweet, let that sink in!

Around the same time, Musk also changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit.”Revealing why he is buying Twitter, Musk wrote,

“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence.”

“That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.” he added.

Musk launched his bid in April this year to buy Twitter for around $44 billion. However, he soon backtracked, saying that he was no longer interested in buying Twitter because according to him the company inflated its number of actual and active users.

Twitter denied the allegations and filed a court case against Musk. Later Musk told the court that he would complete the deal and the court asked him to do it by October 28.

Elon Musk has shared a ‘peace plan’ for the Russia-Ukraine war to end

Billionaire, Elon Musk has shared a ‘peace plan’ for the Russia-Ukraine war to end. But his proposal was quickly met with backlash—including from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The world’s richest man and Tesla founder on Monday, October 3, suggested elections in the annexed regions under United Nations supervision. “Russia leaves if this is the will of the people,” he said.

He also said Crimea, the Ukranian city annexed by Russia in 2014 originally belonged to Russia until a ‘mistake’ by former Soviet Union premier, Nikita Khrushchev.

He called for the Crimea to formally become part of Russia. Then, he said Crimea’s water supply should be assured. And lastly, he argued, Ukraine should remain neutral rather than joining NATO.

Musk then shared a Twitter poll asking his followers to give their opinion on his suggestion. “Crimea formally part of Russia, as it has been since 1783 (until Khrushchev’s mistake),”

He also opined that Ukraine should remain neutral and asked followers to reply with their recommendations in “yes and no”.

“This is highly likely to be the outcome in the end ‘ just a question of how many die before then,” Musk said. He added that the war could turn nuclear although it is unlikely.

Less than three hours after his first tweet, Zelensky responded to Musk with his own poll, mocking Musk’s plan. “Which @elonmusk do you like more?” Zelensky asked. The two choices? One who supports Ukraine, and one who supports Russia.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, also piled on Musk in atypical fashion for a diplomat. “F**k off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” he wrote. Melnyk later added that no Ukrainian would ever buy a Tesla, telling Musk “good luck.”

However, Times correspondent Christopher Miller replied to Musk’s tweet, referring to the Ukrainian Independence Referendum, when Ukrainians were asked to vote on the country’s independence.

In March, Elon Musk had publicly challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a “single combat” for Ukraine. Taking to Twitter, the SpaceX CEO wrote, “I hereby challenge Vladimir Putin to single combat”.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four regions- Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kheria and claimed “this is the will of millions of people.”

Elon Musk alleges Twitter is hiding key witnesses in lawsuit over him backing out of $44 billion-dollar buyout

Elon Musk is reportedly accusing Twitter Inc. of hiding key witnesses in their legal battle over whether he must consummate a $44 billion buyout of the company.

According to Bloomberg, Musk is allerging that the social media company isn’t producing the names of employees specifically responsible for evaluating how much of Twitter’s customer base is made up of spam and robot accounts.

This was disclosed by people who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Musk’s lawyers have asked the judge in the case to force Twitter to identify the workers so the defense can get their records and question them, the people said.

A letter asking Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick to compel Twitter to hand over the names was filed Tuesday under seal. Under the court’s rules, Twitter’s attorneys have five business days to decide what should be redacted from the filing as proprietary information.

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on the filing.The letter comes as the Tesla Inc co-founder said Tuesday he is selling $6.9 billion of Tesla shares to avoid a sudden sale in the event he is forced to go ahead with the deal to acquire Twitter. That has prompted some analysts to predict the billionaire may settle the case.

The report said Twitter has handed over the names of “records custodians,” who aren’t as familiar with the data at issue, the people said. Musk wants McCormick to force Twitter to come up with the names of the employees charged with monitoring those accounts, they said.

Both sides have issued a torrent of subpoenas to banks, investors and lawyers involved in the teetering transaction as they seek ammunition for an October 17 trial.

“It’s another salvo in the discovery wars that are common in this kind of litigation,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who specializes in securities and merger and acquisition law. “Both sides are jockeying for position by targeting different information.”

Both Twitter’s lawyers say they’ll need only four days in court to prove Musk is using questions about spam and bot accounts as a pretext to walk away from the deal. The company said it has turned over all its information about those accounts and that it intends to make Musk pay the $54.20 per share he originally agreed to.

Musk counters in court filings that Twitter’s handover of the that material hasn’t been robust and that the company has failed to produce evidence that spam bots account for fewer than 5% of its active users, as it has said in regulatory filings. He argues this gives him a legitimate basis for canceling the buyout.

He alleges Twitter’s disclosures show that the actual number of monetizable daily active users, or mDAU as the industry calls it, is 65 million less than the 238 million Twitter has claimed.

He says Twitter also misrepresents how many of those users view advertising, the company’s main source of revenue. By his estimate, fewer than 16 million users see the majority of ads and should be counted as monetizable.