Why is ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal suing Elon Musk?
Parag Agrawal-Elon Musk: After Elon Musk took over Twitter, he fired several top-ranking executives including Parag Agrawal.
Parag Agrawal sues Elon Musk: Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and three other ex-executives have suited company boss Elon Musk for $128 million in unpaid severance payments alleging that the billionaire showed "special ire" towards them by publicly vowing to withhold their severance payments of around $200 million. This happened after Elon Musk took over the social media platform in a $44 billion deal in 2022 after which they were ousted from the company, as per the lawsuit filed.
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What Parag Agrawal's lawsuit alleges?
Lawyers for Parag Agrawal and the other ex-executives 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."
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Why did Parag Agrawal leave Twitter?
After Elon Musk took over Twitter, which has since been renamed X, he fired several other top-ranking executives including Parag Agrawal. Company's top legal and policy official Vijaya Gadde, chief financial officer Ned Segal and Twitter’s general counsel Sean Edgett were unsurprisingly dismissed at the time.
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All these executives were key players for Twitter in the company’s lawsuit in 2022 as they forced Elon Musk to fulfill the purchase of the platform after he tried to back out.
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Did Elon Musk pay Parag Agrawal after Twitter's purchase?
Following this, the executives were to receive substantial payouts as part of Elon Musk’s agreement to buy the company. Parag Agrawal was set to reportedly get roughly $50 million in severance payouts.
Twitter's other lawsuits regarding severance
Twitter has been accused of labor and workplace violations, including failing to pay severance to thousands of workers laid off in 2022 and 2023.