By CorpGov Editorial Staff
The Twitter bot scandal at PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) may entangle another senior executive.
This week, company founder William J. Pulte’s grandson Bill Pulte filed a subpoena in Palm Beach County, Florida requesting Elon Musk’s Twitter release details on the activity of General Counsel Todd Sheldon.
The subpoena, which does not indicate PulteGroup itself or Mr. Sheldon are targets of any lawsuit, comes a few weeks after the company fired incoming Chief Operating Officer Brandon Jones just days before he was to assume the role. His termination was apparently as a result of a lawsuit against him alleging he used Twitter bots to stalk, harass and defame the Pulte family.
Neither PulteGroup’s spokesman nor Mr. Sheldon responded to requests for comment from CorpGov.
Bill Pulte, who was formerly an independent director of the company, said in December that the family filed the suit in order to “protect the legacy of Pulte Homes, my grandfather who was my mentor and partner, as well as my own reputation and to prevent Jones from doing irreparable harm through his continued spreading of vicious lies.”
The lawsuit comes after years of tension between the Pulte family and Mr. Jones. Bill Pulte led the opposition to an expedited promotion of Mr. Jones in late 2018, successfully securing unanimous board approval against CEO Ryan Marshall’s request.
Mr. Jones was named Chief Operating Officer of PulteGroup in October and was expected to begin in the role formally on Jan. 1, 2023.
Mr. Jones had served as Senior Vice President – Field Operations until his dismissal. Mr. Sheldon has been General Counsel at PulteGroup since 2017.
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