Elon Musk, the new owner of the platform formerly known as Twitter, is in the hot seat as four of its previous top brass have dragged him to court over unpaid severance claims exceeding $128 million. The group, led by Parag Agrawal, the ex-CEO, alongside Ned Segal, Vijaya Gadde, and Sean Edgett—who respectively served as the chief financial officer, chief legal officer, and general counsel—are not just walking away quietly. Their firing occurred abruptly, right after Musk’s takeover, which was part of a colossal $44 billion acquisition deal in October 2022 and brought about a dramatic change in the company’s leadership and operations.
These former executives accuse Musk of fabricating misconduct allegations to justify their firing and evade severance payouts. According to the legal documents, each executive was entitled to a year’s salary plus hundreds of thousands in stock options. The lawsuit criticizes Musk’s approach, suggesting he deliberately withholds owed money, forcing people to resort to legal action.
Following Musk’s acquisition, X has faced several lawsuits, including proposed class actions by laid-off workers demanding at least $500 million in severance and claims of unpaid dues to vendors and landlords. The company, under Musk’s leadership, has not commented on these allegations.
The lawsuit filed by Agrawal, Segal, Gadde, and Edgett states Musk demonstrated particular hostility towards them, aiming to recover around $200 million of the acquisition cost by withholding their severance. This legal battle sheds light on a broader accusation against Musk’s X for various labor and workplace violations, suggesting a pattern of financial evasion.
The case brings to the forefront Musk’s immediate actions post-acquisition, firing these executives among others, all of whom played crucial roles in a lawsuit that summer to ensure Musk’s purchase of Twitter. Agrawal was slated for roughly $50 million in severance, highlighting the significant financial implications of Musk’s refusal to pay.
In response to the lawsuit and public discourse surrounding it, Musk used a tears of joy emoji on X, reacting to a user’s sarcastic comment about the situation. This interaction reveals Musk’s characteristic use of social media to address or dismiss controversies surrounding him. Further, Musk engaged with another X user, humorously calling Agrawal a clown.
The legal confrontation between Musk and the former Twitter executives is cataloged under Agrawal v. Musk, 24-cv-01304, in the US District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
