Elon Musk’s X wants laid-off employees to give money back: ‘They were overpaid’

Emails from the company's Asia Pacific HR department show that overpayments occurred in January 2023, ranging from $1,500 to $70,000 per employee.

Elon Musk's company X (formerly Twitter) is asking at least six former Australian employees to repay the money which they have been accidentally given. The company is threatening legal action to recover these overpayments, Sydney Morning Herald reported. The issue come after an error in currency conversion from US dollars to Australian dollars. Emails from the company's Asia Pacific HR department show that overpayments occurred in January 2023, ranging from $1,500 to $70,000 per employee.

Elon Musk attends the Breakthrough Prize awards in Los Angeles, California, US.(Reuters)

As per the report, these payments were part of a 'deferred cash compensation' tied to employee shares which were originally valued at $54.20 USD each which is the price Elon Musk paid when he acquired Twitter in 2022. None of the former employees have returned the money, the report claimed. The overpayments happened because Elon Musk's company used an incorrect conversion rate which was 2.5 times the actual value.

As per Australian law, overpayment mistakes need to be repaid although the employees can request detailed explanations and evidence of the error from the company. This comes as many former US-based employees of the company are still fighting to receive severance payments. 

Four former Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal and former CFO Ned Segal, have also sued X for over $128 million in unpaid severance. They were fired after Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter.