Doesn't pay his bills: Ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, other former execs sue Musk over $130mn unpaid benefits

Former top executives of Twitter, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, have sued Elon Musk, claiming he owes them nearly $130 million after taking over the social media company which he renamed X.

The lawsuit, filed in a California federal court on Monday, accuses Musk of using "his wealth and power to run roughshod over anyone who disagrees with him".

"Musk doesn't pay his bills, believes the rules don't apply to him," it states, as quoted by AFP.

The top executives suing Musk

Former CEO Parag Agrawal, who is seeking $57.4 million in benefits, former CFO Ned Segal, who is asking for $44.5 million along with former chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde and the company's then General Counsel Sean Edgett, are behind this lawsuit.

Musk fired Agrawal, Gadde, and Segal from their positions in late October 2022 after his contentious $44 billion takeover of Twitter. The lawsuit, citing a recent biography, claims that Musk ensured the executives could not resign from the company before he fired them in the immediate aftermath of the takeover.

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The executives claim that they were denied severance pay and that they are owed one year's salary and hundreds of thousands of stock options.

"Because Musk decided he didn't want to pay plaintiffs' severance benefits, he simply fired them without reason, then made up (a) fake cause and appointed employees of his various companies to uphold his decision."

"This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people, and force them to sue him," they state in the 39-page lawsuit. 

They also allege that their efforts to "appropriately and vigorously" represent the interests of Twitter's public shareholders during Musk's attempt to back out of the deal led to Musk vowing revenge against them. 

"For their efforts, Musk vowed a lifetime of revenge," says the lawsuit.

X's troubles

In a separate case, Agrawal, Gadde, and Segal are suing Musk to be reimbursed for the costs of litigation, investigations, and congressional inquiries related to their former roles at Twitter.

In addition, X faces two proposed class actions demanding severance payments of at least $500 million for laid-off workers after Musk's acquisition, and a third lawsuit from six former senior managers making similar claims. X has denied wrongdoing.

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Previously, the social media giant faced lawsuits for not paying its former PR firm, landlords, vendors, and consultants.

Musk, who describes himself as a "free speech absolutist," promised to remove restrictions on Twitter after acquiring the platform. Following the takeover, Twitter was renamed X, and its staff numbers were significantly reduced, with content moderation being de-prioritised and many previously banned accounts being reinstated. Subsequently, many advertisers have left the platform. 

(With inputs from agencies)