Elon Musk took over the social media platform, Twitter last year and fired three of its senior executives. On Monday, they filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for the costs of the legal proceedings, congressional inquiries, and probes related to their prior positions. In the lawsuit, former CEO Parag Agrawal and the business’s former main legal and finance officers assert that they are due a combined sum of more than $1 million and that Twitter is obligated by law to pay them.
Numerous costs associated with investigations by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) were listed in a court filing, but the nature of the investigations or whether they are still ongoing were not mentioned. According to court records, Agrawal and the previous CFO Ned Segal testified to the SEC last year and “have continued to engage with federal authorities.” The SEC is looking into whether Musk followed the law when he purchased Twitter shares.
Musk released so-called “Twitter Files” pertaining to the site’s content moderation late last year
After Musk released so-called “Twitter Files” pertaining to the site’s content moderation late last year, former Twitter chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde was invited to participate in a US Senate hearing on big tech and free speech. An individual who claimed he was “doxed” at Twitter as a white supremacist also identified Gadde as a defendant, according to the document. Agrawal, Gadde, and Segal were fired by Musk in late October after his disputed $44 billion buyout of Twitter was completed.
The three former executives claim that Twitter is required by contracts to pay them back but has only acknowledged receiving their invoices. Musk swiftly reduced the number of staff at Twitter after assuming control. The cuts were so extensive that they prompted questions about the platform’s stability and its capacity to combat misinformation and other forms of abuse. As Musk keeps his promise to “cut costs like crazy,” complaints have also been made accusing Twitter of failing to pay its share of the rent or other expenditures. Market analysts report that Twitter’s advertising revenue has fallen as a result of worries about the spread of false information and hate speech as Musk reduces moderating efforts.