Elon Musk has reached a settlement in a $128 million lawsuit filed by four former senior executives of Twitter, now rebranded as X. The dispute centered on severance payments the executives said Musk refused to provide after his 2022 takeover.
Executives say they were fired unfairly
The former leaders, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, argued that Musk dismissed them without cause and denied the severance promised in 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 agreement were not disclosed. The lawsuit, filed last year, is one of several legal challenges tied to unpaid severance following Musk’s acquisition.
Legal teams stay silent
Attorneys for Musk, X, and the former executives have not responded to requests for comment on the settlement. The plaintiffs—Agrawal, former chief financial officer Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former general counsel Sean Edgett—claimed they were owed one year’s salary and stock awards under a long-standing severance plan. They accused Musk of intentionally avoiding payments owed to former employees.
Previous settlements involved thousands of employees
In August, Musk and X settled a separate lawsuit involving roughly 6,000 former employees who claimed they were collectively owed $500 million in severance. Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion after initially attempting to back out of the deal. Once the acquisition closed, he quickly removed top executives and cut more than half of the workforce.
Executives allege Musk acted out of frustration
The former leaders said Musk was angry about being forced to finalize the $44 billion purchase. They claimed he falsely accused them of misconduct to justify firing them and avoid paying their severance. The settlement concludes one of Musk’s most high-profile legal battles and underscores the ongoing impact of his management changes at X.
