Former executives of Twitter, who lost their positions following Elon Musk‘s acquisition of the social media platform, have filed a lawsuit against the tech billionaire, alleging unpaid severance totaling $128 million.
The lawsuit, lodged in US District Court in San Francisco on Monday, represents ex-CEO Parag Agrawal and three other high-ranking executives. They contend that Musk failed to fulfill contractual obligations to employees who were terminated after his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, subsequently rebranding the platform as X.
According to lawyers representing the former executives, this legal action exposes Musk’s pattern of withholding owed funds and compelling individuals to litigate to obtain what is rightfully theirs. They argue, “Even in defeat, Musk can impose delay, hassle, and expense on others less able to afford it.”
Agrawal, who earned over $30 million in total compensation in 2021, his final full year at Twitter, faced termination letters from Musk citing “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct” as grounds for dismissal, thereby circumventing the obligation to pay severance, as per the lawsuit.
However, the plaintiffs claim that Musk’s assertions lacked specific allegations, and his team prolonged the appeals process by attempting for a year to substantiate predetermined conclusions, yielding no results. The lawsuit further alleges that Musk threatened retaliation against Twitter executives after they thwarted his attempt to retract the acquisition deal.
Musk, with a net worth surpassing $200 billion according to Forbes magazine, is confronted with another lawsuit concerning $500 million in severance claims by former Twitter managers and engineers, alongside multiple lawsuits alleging failure to meet financial obligations to landlords and vendors. Lawyers representing the dismissed executives assert, “Musk doesn’t pay his bills, believes the rules don’t apply to him, and uses his wealth and power to run roughshod over anyone who disagrees with him.”
