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A group of former Twitter executives filed a complaint. Lawsuit against Elon Musk The company claims it owes more than $128 million in severance payments that it refused to pay after acquiring a social media company in 2022.
This lawsuit was first reported wall street journalAfter Musk’s ownership group bought Twitter and took it private for $44 billion, Musk fired a Twitter executive on the pretext that Musk had refused to pay for a portion of the acquisition. (Musk renamed it Company X) in an attempt to recoup some of the costs of the acquisition. Severance pay that you would otherwise have been contractually entitled to receive.
The lawsuit was filed by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, former chief financial officer Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former general counsel Mr. Sean Edgitt. Through the lawsuit, Mr. Agrawal is seeking to recover approximately $57.4 million in severance pay, Mr. Segal is seeking $44.5 million, Mr. Gadde is seeking $20 million, and Mr. Ejit is seeking $6.8 million. Musk, Company X, and several others are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs’ lawsuit alleges that under Mr. Musk’s control, Twitter has become a target of criticism and oppresses employees, landlords, vendors and others. “Musk doesn’t pay his bills, believes the rules don’t apply to him, and uses his wealth and power to engage in violent acts against those who disagree with him.”
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Elon Musk and Mr. (Muhammad Selim Kolkata/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The lawsuit claims Musk has a “special anger” toward the four men. Former Twitter executive Because in their roles with the company, they “adequately and vigorously represented the interests of Twitter’s public shareholders throughout Mr. Musk’s unreasonable attempts to terminate the agreement.”
Musk proposed to buy Twitter for $44 billion in April 2022, but initially called it a “poison pill” strategy after the billionaire announced he had bought more than 9% of the company’s outstanding shares. The board of directors accepted this idea.
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The lawsuit by former Twitter executives alleges that Mr. Musk wrongly accused them of firing them for cause by denying them severance pay. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for The New York Times/Getty Images)
But by May, Musk said the deal was “temporarily on hold” as he looked to gather more information about the company, and in July he suspended the deal over concerns about bot accounts. I threatened to terminate it. Twitter fired back, claiming that Musk was breaking a contract he had agreed to, and filed a lawsuit. Delaware Chancery Court A deal is expected to be concluded at a trial scheduled for October 2022.
To prevent a lawsuit, Musk resubmitted a $44 billion offer, and the deal closed on October 28, 2022. After the deal was completed, Mr. Musk fired Mr. Agrawal, Mr. Gadde and other key leaders at Twitter who he believed were undermining free speech on the platform. .
The lawsuit filed by former Twitter executives alleges that when Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter, he told official biographer Walter Isaacson that he would “hunt down every single Twitter executive and board member until the day he dies.” has been done.
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Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is seeking more than $57 million in severance pay through a lawsuit. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The lawsuit also cites excerpts from Isaacson’s book in which he says Musk forced the sale a day early so he could fire Agrawal and others for cause. . stock option There is a possibility of vesting because “there is a difference of 200 million in the cookie jar between closing tonight and tomorrow morning.”
“Mr. Musk decided that he did not want to pay the plaintiffs severance packages, so he simply fired them for no reason, concocted a false cause, and appointed employees from various companies to support his decision.” In his termination letter, he alleged that each plaintiff committed “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct,” without citing any facts in support of this claim,” the lawsuit alleges. . “Mr. Musk’s employees then spent a year trying to find facts to support Mr. Musk’s predetermined conclusions, to no avail.”
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The lawsuit alleges that X continued to deny former executives severance pay, unfairly withheld documents, and unnecessarily prolonged proceedings.
“This is Mr. Musk’s strategy: to keep the money he owes others and have them sue him. Even if he loses, Mr. Musk will pay for the delay, hassle, and hassle for others who can’t afford to pay it.” “They can impose expenses,” the lawsuit alleges.
X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
