Amanda Silberling
Mon, March 4, 2024
Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch
Another day, another lawsuit involving Elon Musk. Four former Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, sued Musk on Monday, alleging that they're owed over $128 million in severance payments.
When Musk bought Twitter (now X), one of his very first moves as the company's owner was to fire Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and lawyers Sean Edgett and Vijaya Gadde. According to the lawsuit, Musk has a "special ire" toward these former executives, who worked hard to hold Musk to his $44 billion commitment when he tried to back out. The lawsuit quotes Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk, which quotes Musk as saying he would "hunt every single one" of Twitter's C-suite "till the day they die."
Musk has been a vocal critic of Gadde in particular, who was involved in several high-profile content moderation decisions on Twitter. After putting in his bid to buy Twitter, he posted memes mocking the executive, which sparked a wave of racist online attacks against her.
It's not just these executives who haven't gotten their severance pay. Musk has faced several lawsuits from former Twitter employees who are also waiting for a check. Under Musk's ownership, the company has stopped paying rent on some of its offices, which has led to even more lawsuits and evictions.
According to the lawsuit, Musk claimed that these executives committed "gross negligence" and "willful misconduct" in their termination letters, but never was able to show evidence of his allegations.
"This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people, and force them to sue him," the lawsuit reads. "Even in defeat, Musk can impose delay, hassle, and expense on others less able to afford it."
Twitter's former CEO and other execs are suing Elon Musk and X for $128 million in unpaid severance
The group says Musk “made up a fake cause” for their firing to avoid paying them.
Karissa Bell
·Senior Editor
Mon, March 4, 2024
Anadolu via Getty Images
A group of former Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, are suing Elon Musk and X over millions of dollars in unpaid severance benefits. The claims date back to the chaotic circumstances surrounding Musk’s takeover of the company in October 2022.
When Musk took control of the company, his first move was to fire Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett. According to the lawsuit, Musk had “special ire” for the group because of the role they played in the months-long court battle that forced Musk to follow through with the acquisition after he attempted to back out of the deal. According to the lawsuit, Agrawal is entitled to $57.4 million in severance benefits, Segal is entitled to $44.5 million, Gadde $20 million and Edgett $6.8 million, for a total of about $128 million.
The lawsuit cites Musk biographer Walter Isaacson’s account of the events, which explains that Musk rushed to close the Twitter deal a day early so he could fire the executives “for cause” just before their final stock options were set to vest. According to Isaacson, Musk bragged that the legal maneuver saved him about $200 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 didn’t respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. Of note, it’s not the first time former Twitter employees have sued the company for failing to pay severance benefits. A separate lawsuit claimed Twitter owed former workers more than $500 million in unpaid severance. Agrawal, Segal and Gadde also previously sued the company over unpaid legal bills as a result of shareholder lawsuits and other investigations that resulted from Musk’s takeover,
Former Twitter execs sue Elon Musk for over $128 million in severance
Reuters
Updated Mon, March 4, 2024
FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk in Paris
(Reuters) -Four former top Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, have sued Elon Musk for over $128 million in combined unpaid severance, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, is the latest in a series of legal challenges the billionaire faces after he acquired the social media company for $44 billion in October 2022 and later renamed it X.
The other plaintiffs are Ned Segal, Twitter's former chief financial officer; Vijaya Gadde, its former chief legal officer; and Sean Edgett, its former general counsel.
Mere minutes after Musk took control of Twitter, the former executives say they were fired and that Musk falsely accused them of misconduct and forced them out of Twitter after they sued the billionaire for attempting to renege on his offer to purchase the company.
Musk then denied the executives severance pay they had been promised for years before he acquired Twitter, according to the lawsuit. The plaintiffs say they each are owed one year's salary and hundreds of thousands of stock options.
"This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people, and force them to sue him," the former executives said in the 39-page lawsuit.
X is already facing a pair of proposed class actions claiming it owes rank-and-file workers who were laid off after Musk's acquisition at least $500 million in severance, and a third lawsuit by six former senior managers making similar claims. X has denied wrongdoing.
The company has also been sued previously for failing to pay its former public relations firm, landlords, vendors and consultants.
X did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Sourasis Bose in Bengaluru, Sheila Dang in Dallas and Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Aurora Ellis)
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