Another day, another lawsuit involving Elon Musk. Four former Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, sued Musk on Monday, alleging that they’re owed over $128 million in severance payments.
When Musk bought Twitter (now X), one of his very first moves as the company’s owner was to fire Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, and lawyers Sean Edgett and Vijaya Gadde. According to the lawsuit, Musk has a “special ire” towards these former executives, who worked hard to hold Musk to his $44 billion commitment when he tried to back out. The lawsuit quotes Walter Isaacson’s biography of Elon Musk, which quotes Musk as saying he would “hunt every single one” of Twitter’s c-suite “till the day they die.”
Musk has been a vocal critic of Gadde in particular, who was involved in several high-profile content moderation decisions on Twitter. After putting in his bid to buy Twitter, he posted memes mocking the executive, which sparked a wave of racist online attacks against her.
It’s not just these executives who haven’t gotten their severance pay. Musk has faced several lawsuits from former Twitter employees who are also waiting for a check. Under Musk’s ownership, the company has stopped paying rent on some of its offices, which has led to even more lawsuits and evictions.
According to the lawsuit, Musk claimed that these executives committed “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct” in their termination letters, but never was able to show evidence of his allegations.
“This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people, and force them to sue him,” the lawsuit reads. “Even in defeat, Musk can impose delay, hassle, and expense on others less able to afford it.”
