Former senior executives of Twitter, including CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal, are suing Elon Musk and X Corp. for over $128 million in unpaid severance payments, Associated Press reports.
They allege they were fired without cause on the day Musk acquired Twitter and rebranded it as X. The executives accuse Musk of fabricating reasons to avoid paying severance and point to a pattern of non-payment, citing lawsuits from other terminated Twitter employees.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, contends that Musk’s actions demonstrate a disregard for financial obligations and a belief that rules do not apply to him. The executives assert their entitlement to one year’s salary plus unvested stock awards as per their severance plans, which Musk failed to honor.
Musk cited “gross negligence and willful misconduct” as the cause for their firings, allegedly due to Twitter’s fees to outside attorneys for the acquisition. The executives argue they were fulfilling their fiduciary duties to the company.
