What's going on?

Twitter shareholders approved its buyout this week, but the deal�s far from done.

What does this mean?

The once-hot Musk versus Twitter topic might not be trending anymore, but that doesn�t mean the drama�s cooling off. Musk � who pulled out of his Twitter buyout deal in July � has been battling the social media company and its lawyers ever since. And just as Twitter�s shareholders stamped their seal of approval this week, a whistleblower testified to the government that Twitter lacked basic security measures. In fact, they even claimed a spy had landed a job there and got their hands on precious data � potentially including accounts of senators in the room. Twitter can always rely on the �disgruntled ex-employee� card to discredit the fiery testimony, sure, but you can bet Musk will hope these slippy security stories will help him wriggle out of the deal.

Why should I care?

Zooming in: Let�s all be friends.
Twitter�s board of directors is duty-bound to seek the best outcome for the company�s shareholders, which could include forcing the deal through. Musk, though, isn�t budging on his claim that Twitter withheld vital information about the platform�s number of bots. So maybe the two staunchly committed parties should consider compromising: Musk could easily up the $1 billion he promised to pay if the deal fell through, extra cash that would appease shareholders by funding the company�s recovery. Plus, skipping out the reluctant owner bit wouldn�t hurt either of them.

The bigger picture: Hear, hear.
Those Twitter-happy senators will have been listening very closely: lawmakers are already keen to enforce stricter regulations on big tech companies, so details of lackadaisical security practices may only hasten their clamp-down efforts. After all, if politicians tar all social media and tech companies with the same brush, any fallout from Twitter could affect the likes of Meta and Amazon too � and they�ve already faced more than their fair share of browbeating.