Ex-Twitter chiefs sue Elon Musk for over $128m

Lawsuit claims non-payment of bills is part of a pattern of Musk

Former executives of social media giant Twitter – rebranded as X – are suing the company’s owner Elon Musk saying he owes them unpaid severance of $128m (£100m).

Twitter’s ex-chiefs, including the company’s former boss Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, chief legal counsel Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett alleged that they were “fired without reason” when Mr Musk took over the social media firm.

The four former executives were fired amid a mass layoff at the company after Mr Musk completed a $44bn deal and took over Twitter in 2022.

They allege that Mr Musk schemed to not pay severance by manufacturing fake “cause” terminations before they could resign and collect their benefits.

The latest lawsuit – at least the 30th against X over refusal to pay – claims the ex-executives were told they were sacked for “gross negligence and willful misconduct” but “without citing a single fact in support of this claim”.

“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 former executives allege in the lawsuit filed on Monday in California.

“Under Musk’s control, Twitter has become a scofflaw, stiffing employees, landlords, vendors, and others,” the lawsuit alleges.

“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,” it says.

Mr Musk’s refusal to pay, according to Twitter’s ex-chiefs, “is part of a larger pattern of refusing to pay Twitter’s former employees the benefits and other compensation they are due.”

Mr Musk has not issued a public statement on the case yet and X did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.