Source: AFP
Former top Twitter executives sued Elon Musk on Monday, saying they failed to pay them nearly $130 million after the billionaire took over the social media company and fired them.
“Musk doesn’t pay his bills, believes the rules don’t apply to him, and uses his wealth and power to attack anyone who disagrees with him,” they said in the lawsuit filed in California federal court.
The plaintiffs include former CEO Parag Agrawal, who is seeking $57.4 million in benefits, according to the suit, and fired CFO Ned Segal, who is seeking $44.5 million.
The other plaintiffs are former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and the company’s then-general counsel Sean Edgett.
Musk removed Agrawal, Gadde and Segal from their posts at the end of October 2022 after closing the controversial $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.
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According to the lawsuit, citing a recent authorized biography of Musk, the tycoon went out of his way to ensure executives could not quit the company before firing them within moments of taking over.
The executives “properly and vigorously represented the interests of Twitter’s public shareholders throughout Musk’s unfair effort to renege on the deal,” the suit said.
“For their efforts, Musk promised a lifetime of revenge,” he added.
That was in reference to the bitter months leading up to the takeover, when Agrawal and his team drew the ire of Musk who went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a buyout deal he had tried to wriggle out of.
“Because Musk decided he didn’t want to pay the plaintiffs severance pay, he simply fired them without cause, then created (a) false cause and appointed employees of his various companies to enforce his decision,” the lawsuit alleges.
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![](https://images.yen.com.gh/images/edd07d081f277609.jpg?impolicy=cropped-image&imwidth=256)
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Musk, a self-proclaimed βabsolute of free speech,β has promised to remove restrictions on Twitter after buying the platform.
Since then, Twitter has been rebranded as X and its headcount has been drastically reduced, content moderation has been put on the back burner, and many previously banned accounts have been reinstated.
Musk has also seen major advertisers leave the site due to an increase in offensive content, and has struggled to build a strong enough subscription base to make up for lost revenue.
In a separate case, Agrawal, Gadde and Segal are suing Musk for damages for the costs of litigation, investigations and congressional investigations related to their previous jobs.
Source: AFP