Elon Musk has agreed to settle a $128 million lawsuit filed by four former top executives of Twitter, now known as X. The dispute centered on unpaid severance following his takeover of the social media company.
Fired leaders accused Musk of breaking agreements
The executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, claimed Musk dismissed them without cause after buying Twitter in 2022. They said he refused to honor their severance packages, which had been promised under company policy. In a recent court filing, their lawyers stated, “The parties have reached a settlement, and the settlement requires certain conditions to be met in the near term.” The exact terms of the agreement remain confidential. The case is one of several legal battles tied to Musk’s mass layoffs and unpaid severance claims.
Lawyers stay silent on settlement details
Attorneys representing the former executives, as well as those for Musk and X, have not yet commented publicly on the settlement. The leadership team—Agrawal, former chief financial officer Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former general counsel Sean Edgett—argued that they were entitled to one year’s salary and stock awards under a long-standing severance plan. They accused Musk of deliberately avoiding payments owed to departing staff.
Thousands of employees also took legal action
In August, Musk and X settled another lawsuit involving roughly 6,000 former employees who claimed they were owed $500 million in severance pay. Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion after trying to back out of the deal. Once the sale closed, he swiftly fired top executives, including those involved in the case, and cut more than half of the company’s workforce.
Anger and accusations after the takeover
The former executives said Musk’s frustration over being forced to complete the $44 billion purchase drove his actions. They alleged he falsely accused them of misconduct to justify their firing and to avoid paying what he owed. The settlement ends one of Musk’s most high-profile disputes since taking over X, marking another twist in his dramatic reshaping of the once-prominent social media platform.
