Elon Musk has agreed to a settlement in a $128 million lawsuit filed by four former senior executives of Twitter, now rebranded as X. The case centered on severance payments the executives said Musk refused to provide after his 2022 takeover.
Executives claim they were fired without cause
The former leaders, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, argued Musk dismissed them unfairly and blocked the severance guaranteed under their contracts. In a court filing, their lawyers wrote, “The parties have reached a settlement, and the settlement requires certain conditions to be met in the near term.” The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The lawsuit, filed last year, is one of several legal challenges tied to unpaid severance following Musk’s acquisition.
Legal teams offer no comment
Lawyers for Musk, X, and the former executives have not responded to requests for comment on the deal. The plaintiffs—Agrawal, former chief financial officer Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former general counsel Sean Edgett—said they were each owed one year’s salary and stock awards under a long-standing severance plan. They accused Musk of deliberately avoiding payments owed to former employees.
Thousands of employees previously settled
In August, Musk and X also settled a lawsuit involving about 6,000 former employees who claimed they were collectively owed $500 million in severance. Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion after initially attempting to back out. After the deal closed, he swiftly fired the top executives and cut more than half of the company’s workforce.
Executives allege Musk acted out of anger
The former leaders said Musk was frustrated about being forced to complete the $44 billion acquisition. They claimed he falsely accused them of misconduct to justify their dismissal and avoid paying their severance. The settlement ends one of Musk’s most prominent legal disputes and highlights the lasting impact of his management changes at X.
