Ex-CEO Parag Agrawal and other high-up folks from Twitter are suing Elon Musk, asking for over $128 million in unpaid severance. They filed the case in a San Francisco court on Monday, saying Musk fired them without a good reason and didn't take his money responsibilities seriously.
In the 39-page lawsuit, they claim Twitter, under Musk's control, is not playing fair and isn't paying its bills to employees, landlords, vendors, and others. They accuse Musk of thinking he's above the rules and using his wealth and power to push people around.
The former executives, which include ex-CFO Ned Segal, ex-chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former General Counsel Sean Edgett, say they're owed a year's salary and stock options. Musk fired them in October 2022 after buying Twitter (now called X) for $44 billion.
The executives say Musk made up a "fake" reason to avoid paying them severance – claiming Twitter paid fees to outside lawyers improperly. They argue that if Musk had a problem with the payments, he should have tried to cancel the deal, not withhold their severance.
X is already dealing with three other lawsuits from ex-workers seeking big severance packages, including class action suits saying regular employees are owed at least $500 million. The social media company is also facing lawsuits for allegedly not paying a former PR firm, landlords, vendors, and consultants