Elon Musk has agreed to 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 fired without cause
The group, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, said Musk dismissed them unfairly and blocked severance promised under their contracts. In a court filing, their lawyers stated, “The parties have reached a settlement, and the settlement requires certain conditions to be met in the near term.” The financial terms of the settlement remain confidential. The lawsuit, filed last year, is one of several legal challenges tied to unpaid severance following Musk’s acquisition.
Lawyers remain silent on settlement
Attorneys for Musk, X, and the former executives have not commented on the agreement. 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 former employees.
Mass layoffs prompted previous settlements
In August, Musk and X settled another lawsuit involving roughly 6,000 former employees who said they were collectively owed $500 million in severance. Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion after initially trying to back out of the deal. Once the acquisition closed, he swiftly removed top executives and cut more than half of the workforce.
Executives allege Musk acted out of anger
The former leaders claimed Musk was frustrated about being forced to finalize the $44 billion acquisition. They said he falsely accused them of misconduct to justify firing them and avoid paying their severance. The settlement ends one of Musk’s most high-profile legal disputes and highlights the ongoing consequences of his management overhaul at X.
