Elon Musk has reached a settlement in a $128 million lawsuit filed by four former senior executives of Twitter, now rebranded as X. The case focused on severance payments the executives said Musk refused to pay after his 2022 takeover.
Executives claim they were dismissed without reason
The group, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, argued Musk fired them unfairly 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 were not disclosed. The lawsuit, filed last year, is one of several legal challenges tied to unpaid severance following Musk’s acquisition.
Legal teams remain silent
Attorneys for Musk, X, and the former executives have not responded to requests for comment. The plaintiffs—Agrawal, former chief financial officer Ned Segal, former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and former general counsel Sean Edgett—said they were owed one year’s salary and stock awards under a long-standing severance plan. They accused Musk of deliberately avoiding payments owed to departing employees.
Mass layoffs led to previous settlements
In August, Musk and X settled another lawsuit involving roughly 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. Once the acquisition closed, he swiftly removed top executives and cut more than half of the workforce.
Executives allege Musk acted out of frustration
The former leaders said Musk was frustrated about being forced to finalize the $44 billion acquisition. They claimed he falsely accused them of misconduct to justify firing them and avoid paying their severance. The settlement closes one of Musk’s most high-profile legal disputes and highlights the ongoing consequences of his management overhaul at X.
