Top-level former employees of Twitter have filed a new lawsuit against Elon Musk, the current owner of the social networking platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Among the concerned parties are ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, the former head of the legal department Vijaya Gadde, and ex-chief counsel Sean Edgett. They claim the company owes them severance packages worth $128 million that went unpaid since their layoffs.
In their legal motion, the former Twitter executives’ lawyers argued that, following the acquisition of Twitter, now X Corp., for $44 billion, Musk personally retaliated against the ousted executives. They allege that he also sought partially to recoup his expenses by “repeatedly refusing to honor other clear contractual obligations”.
According to the counsel, Musk and X Corp. profited “at the expense of employees, landlords, suppliers, and other parties” since purchasing Twitter. This comment suggests the over 25 lawsuits filed against the social network from various parties, including software suppliers and landlords.
The new complaint reads, “Musk doesn’t observe the rules, considers himself above them, and leverages his wealth and power to settle scores with anyone in disagreement with him.” The document also highlights Musk’s comment to his official biographer, Walter Isaacson, of his intention to “hunt down all of Twitter’s directors and executives until death”.
According to the lawyers, this statement was not an idle threat. “These weren’t mere boastings of a self-centered billionaire surrounded by yes-men unwilling to confront him with the legal consequences of his choices. Musk bragged to Isaacson about how he planned to deceitfully deprive Twitter executives of their severance packages to save $200 million,” the complaint alleges.
