Four former executives of Twitter, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, are suing Elon Musk and the company, now known as X, for over US$128 million (around CA$174 million) in allegedly unpaid severance benefits. The lawsuit stems from the tumultuous takeover of Twitter by Musk in October 2022.
Upon acquiring Twitter, Musk swiftly fired Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, and General Counsel Sean Edgett. The lawsuit claims Musk harboured "special ire" towards the group due to their role in the legal battle forcing him to complete the acquisition after attempting to withdraw. Each executive seeks specific amounts in severance, totalling US$128 million: Agrawal - US$57.4 million (~CA$77.9 million), Segal - US$44.5 million (~CA$60.4 million), Gadde - US$20 million (~CA$27.1 million), and Edgett - US$6.8 million (~CA$9.2 million).
The lawsuit cites biographer Walter Isaacson's account, alleging Musk rushed the deal's completion to fire the executives "for cause" just before their stock options vested, potentially saving US$200 million (~CA$272 million).
"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," the lawsuit states. "Because Musk decided he didn’t want to pay Plaintiffs’ severance benefits, he simply fired them without reason, then made up fake cause and appointed employees of his various companies to uphold his decision."
X and Musk did not respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit. Notably, this isn't the first such case. Another lawsuit has accused X of withholding over US$500 million (~CA$680 million) in severance from former employees. Additionally, Agrawal, Segal, and Gadde previously sued the company over unpaid legal bills related to shareholder lawsuits and investigations stemming from the Musk takeover.