Four former top executives claimed they were not paid $128 million in promised severance after Musk took over the social media site
NurPhoto/ Getty
Elon Musk's long-running battle with the executive team that ran Twitter $TWTR before his purchase of the social media site may finally be over. Musk and four former executives of the site have agreed to settle a lawsuit by the former leaders that claimed they were not paid $128 million in promised severance pay.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett sued Musk in 2024 after they said they were not paid promised severance benefits. Musk and the company (which he has since renamed X) settled a separate, but similar, lawsuit in August from lower-level employees who were dismissed during a swath of layoffs after Musk took over. Those workers argued they were owed $500 million in unpaid severance.
In their suit, the executives alleged Musk had falsely accused them of misconduct and forced them out of Twitter. The plaintiffs said they were each owed one year’s salary and hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of stock options as part of deals that were promised before Musk's takeover.
The suit has its origins in Musk's initial bid for the site. After offering to buy Twitter, Musk then changed his mind and tried to back out of the $44 billion deal. That led to a legal battle where he finally blinked and closed the deal.
Walter Isaacson's biography of Musk, however, included a segment saying Musk finalized the purchase early and laid off the executive team to avoid paying their severance and stock options. Musk allegedly told Isaacson he would “hunt every single one of” the company's executives and directors “till the day they die.”
The settlement agreement is dependent on Musk meeting unspecified “certain conditions” in the near term. Should he fail to do so, the lawsuit will continue.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
