In a significant legal move, former Twitter executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, Chief Legal Counsel Vijaya Gadde, and General Counsel Sean Edgett, have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and X Corp. The suit, lodged in the Northern District of California, alleges they are collectively owed more than USD 128 million in severance payments following their termination on the day Musk finalized his takeover of Twitter in 2022—a move that was part of a rebranding effort to X. The executives accuse Musk of fabricating reasons for their dismissal to avoid paying severance, a pattern they claim extends to Musk’s handling of other financial obligations.
The lawsuit articulates a broader pattern of behavior under Musk’s stewardship, accusing him of systematically evading financial commitments to employees, landlords, and vendors alike. It characterizes Twitter, now X, as defying legal and contractual obligations, driven by Musk’s purported belief that conventional rules do not apply to him. This legal challenge adds to a growing list of lawsuits against Musk and his companies for similar grievances, highlighting a culture of non-payment and legal confrontation.
Central to the executives’ claims is their entitlement under severance plans to a year’s salary and unvested stock awards, calculated based on Twitter’s acquisition price of USD 44 billion, or USD 54.20 per share. They refute the grounds of their termination, arguing that any payments made, such as attorneys’ fees for the acquisition, were in line with their fiduciary duties to Twitter. The lawsuit underlines a stark disagreement over the definition of ’cause’ for termination, suggesting Musk’s decisions were not only unfounded but also retaliatory.
Pic Courtesy: google/ images are subject to copyright
