Elon Musk has finally settled a $128 million lawsuit with four ex-Twitter executives.
The X owner settled with former CEO Parag Agrawal, ex-CFO Ned Segal, former CLO Vijaya Gadde and ex General Counsel Sean Edgett. The quartet filed back in March 2024 and alleged unpaid severance and benefits upon their dismissal.
“WHEREAS, the Parties have reached a settlement and the settlement requires certain conditions to be met in the near term,” the federal court filing from San Fransisco read. “WHEREAS, the Parties agree that postponing the existing case management deadlines will permit the Parties to meet conditions required under the settlement and will conserve the Parties’ and the Court’s resources.”
Specific details of the settlement were not made public. The four’s March 2024 lawsuit stated that they were fired for “fake cause” as a way for Musk to get out of paying their severance benefits.
“Because Musk decided he didn’t want to pay Plaintiffs’ severance benefits, he simply fired them without reason, then made up fake cause and appointed employees of his various companies to uphold his decision,” the original suit read.
The suit continued: “This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people, and force them to sue him. Even in defeat, Musk can impose delay, hassle, and expense on others less able to afford it.”
Musk bought Twitter back in 2022 to the tune of $44 billion. What followed was a storm of lawsuits and legal actions ranging from non-executive former employees up to vendors and service providers. The former executives’ suit pointed out that Musk himself revealed to his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that he would “‘hunt every single one of’ Twitter’s executives and directors ‘till the day they die.’”
“These statements were not the mere rantings of a self-centered billionaire surrounded by enablers unwilling to confront him with the legal consequences of his own choices,” the original suit also noted. “Musk bragged to Isaacson specifically how he planned to cheat Twitter’s executives out of their severance benefits in order to save himself $200 million.”
