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According to a court filing, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is seeking documents from Twitter Inc co-founder Jack Dorsey as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX pursues his legal battle to withdraw from his $44 billion deal for the social media company.
According to a copy of the subpoena, Dorsey, who resigned as Twitter’s CEO in November and left the board in May, was asked for documents and communications about Musk’s April agreement to buy the company and about spam accounts on the platform.
Dorsey, the CEO of payment processing firm Block Inc, did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Dorsey co-founded Block, which changed its name from Square Inc last year.
The subpoena sought documents and communications regarding Twitter’s use of mDAU, a measure of active users on its platform. Musk claims the company defrauded him by concealing the number of fake accounts in its regulatory filings, which he claims he used to value the company.
Musk’s spam claims have been denied by Twitter.
Musk also requested documents and communications regarding the company’s alternative measures of active users, as well as information about the use of mDAU in executive pay and annual targets.
Twitter has refused to comment.
Dorsey had backed Musk’s buyout offer for Twitter because the two men agreed on the need for more transparency in its algorithm and more control over the content users see.
Dorsey has also stated that the advertising model is holding Twitter back, and Musk has stated that Twitter should rely more on subscription fees and services such as money transfers between users.
Musk and Dorsey discussed Musk joining the Twitter board in March, before Musk revealed he had purchased a 9.1% stake in Twitter. Musk accepted a board seat, but before his term began, he changed his mind and offered to buy the company.
In late Monday trading, Twitter shares were down 2.5% at $42.89 per share.
