Elon Musk has settled a $128 million lawsuit. The lawsuit in question was filed by four ex-high-ranking twitterers—CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde and Chief Information Security Officer Sean Edgett. Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform for $44 billion in 2022 allowed him to then terminate the executives without cause, which brought us to this settlement. The lawsuit was filed last year. It claims that these executives were wrongfully withheld severance payments totaling one year’s salary, as well as stock awards, guaranteed in a prior severance plan.
The court fight started after Musk moved quickly to replace Twitter’s executive team once he took over the company. In their initial filings, the executives claimed that Musk’s angst at being forced to complete the deal was the basis for their wrongful termination. They asserted that Musk defamed them by accusing them of wrongdoing without evidence. This, they contended, was his way of driving them out of the company.
Musk’s takeover of Twitter raised eyebrows. First, he attempted to rescind his offer before returning to proceed with the purchase of Twitter. Nearly immediately after, Musk went full-on chicken little by purging Twitter of over half of their employees. This extreme decision resulted in several court cases over severance pay for all affected.
The four former executives have sued the company for unpaid severance. This lawsuit is just one of dozens involving employees who were terminated following the merger. Attorneys for the plaintiffs have confirmed the settlement agreement and reported that the settlement contains detailed requirements that must be met in the near future.
“The parties have reached a settlement and the settlement requires certain conditions to be met in the near term.” – Attorneys for the plaintiffs
Musk and X, previously known as Twitter, reached a settlement with four of those executives. They settled a unrelated lawsuit with some 6,000 workers who were seeking more than $500 million in severance payments. This is part of a bigger trend of legal scrutiny against Musk’s erratic management practices and the effects they’ve had on the workforce.