Former Twitter executives sued Elon Musk on Monday alleging he purposefully withheld $128 million in severance from the people he blamed for forcing him to go through with his $44 billion purchase of the social media company in 2022.
The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco by ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, former CFO Ned Segal, ex-Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde and ex-General Counsel Sean Edgett,
According to the lawsuit, Musk “has a special ire toward” the company’s former execs and has “vowed a lifetime of revenge” against them.
The suit cites a quote Musk gave biographer Walter Isaacson, that he would “hunt every single one” of Twitter’s executives and directors “till the day they die” It goes into detail about how Musk and his “gunslinging lawyer” Alex Spiro cut off the former executives’ email access and delivered dismissal letters before they could officially resign.
The Plaintiffs lawyer argues that they were still protected by The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, also known as ERISA and that his “scheme… was a pointless effort that would not withstand legal scrutiny.”
In 2023, X denied the severance claims The Plaintifs were told that they were fired for “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct” for “negotiating, litigating and closing the acquisition.”
“Under Musk’s control, Twitter has become a scofflaw, stiffing employees, landlords, vendors, and others. Musk doesn’t pay his bills, believes the rules don’t apply to him, and uses his wealth and power to run roughshod over anyone who disagrees with him,” reads another section of the suit.
This is believed to be the 30th nonpayment lawsuit filed against the SpaceX founder since he took control of Twitter in October 2022, with landlords and vendors also suing Musk.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported this story.
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