Elon Musk is currently facing legal action from four former Twitter executives, including ex-chief Parag Agrawal, who claim that he owes them over $128 million in unpaid severance.
The executives allege that Musk dismissed them without cause after acquiring Twitter, now X, and fabricated reasons to avoid fulfilling the severance agreement.
The lawsuit asserts that this action is part of a broader pattern of Musk refusing to pay former employees what they are owed. The four executives, including Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, former CLO Vijaya Gadde, and former GC Sean Edgett, insist that, according to the severance plan, they are entitled to one year’s salary and stock awards.
This would amount to over $57 million for Agrawal, more than $44 million for Segal, over $20 million for Gadde, and more than $6 million for Edgett.
Despite Musk’s purchase of Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, the lawsuit claims he has been trying to evade the millions owed to the executives by rejecting the severance plans outlining compensation for job termination without cause.
The lawsuit accuses Musk of transforming the company into an entity that disregards the law and fails to fulfill financial obligations.
While Musk has not commented on the lawsuit, the executives portray him as someone who avoids paying debts and mistreats employees.
“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,” according to the filing in federal court in California.
The legal dispute over the money has been ongoing, and the executives claim that the administrative process has been exhausted.
Last year, a former HR officer at Twitter filed a class-action lawsuit, alleging that the company owed approximately $500 million in severance pay to former staff.
The four executives’ legal action aims to portray Musk as someone unwilling to pay debts and mistreating employees, claiming that his refusal to pay is part of a broader pattern within Twitter.
“Musk’s refusal to pay … is part of a larger pattern of refusing to pay Twitter’s former employees the benefits and other compensation they are due,” Mr Agrawal and his former colleagues alleged in the lawsuit.