Parag Agrawal, 3 others sue Elon Musk for $128 million

Agrawal, Gadde and another former Twitter executive claim Musk withheld their payments when he took over the company in 2022

Four former top Twitter executives, including former Indian American CEO Parag Agrawal, have sued Elon Musk for over $128 million in combined unpaid severance.

The other plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, on Monday are Ned Segal, Twitter’s former chief financial officer; Vijaya Gadde, its former chief legal officer; and Sean Edgett, its former general counsel.

The former Twitter executives have claimed that Musk showed ” special ire” towards them by publicly vowing to withhold their severance payments of around $200 million when he took over the social media giant in a $44 billion deal in 2022.

READ: Parag Agarwal, other ousted executives sue Twitter (April 11, 2023)

In a 38-page complaint filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Agarwal’s lawyers noted, “Under Musk’s control, Twitter has become a scofflaw, stiffing employees, landlords, vendors, and others. 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.”

READ: Elon Musk fires Parag Agrawal, Vijaya Gadde (October 28, 2022)

“He claimed in his termination letters that each Plaintiff committed ‘gross negligence’ and ‘willful misconduct’ without citing a single fact in support of this claim.”

The plaintiffs say they each are owed one year’s salary and hundreds of thousands of stock options.”This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people, and force them to sue him,” they alleged.

According to a report in the New York Times, citing Twitter’s securities filing, Agarwal was entitled to an annual salary of $1 million and the top executive was also awarded $12.5 million in company stock in his offer letter.

READ: Who is Vijaya Gadde, Indian American executive targeted by Musk? (April 29, 2022)

The former Twitter CEO was also entitled to a $60 million “golden parachute” payment in the event of an involuntary termination. Segal was entitled to $46 million and Gadde was entitled to $21 million under the same circumstances.

Agarwal, Gadde and other former employees had also previously sued and won a ruling from a Delaware court that ordered Twitter (now X) to pay $1.1 million in legal fees incurred while working for the social media company, Bloomberg reported.

Read: After firing two desis, Musk turns to a third for help (November 1, 2022)

X is already facing a pair of proposed class actions claiming it owes rank-and-file workers who were laid off after Musk’s acquisition at least $500 million in severance, and a third lawsuit by six former senior managers making similar claims.