Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of X Corp, has reached a preliminary settlement with former Twitter employees over a ₹1,062 crore ($128 million) severance pay dispute. This settlement follows Musk’s controversial acquisition and restructuring of Twitter in 2022, which led to mass layoffs and high-profile legal battles.
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Who Was Involved
The agreement covers four senior executives:
- Former CEO Parag Agrawal
- CFO Ned Segal
- Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde
- General Counsel Sean Edgett
The executives had filed a lawsuit in 2024 in the US Northern District Court of California, alleging that Musk intentionally accelerated the $44 billion (₹3.65 lakh crore) Twitter acquisition to prevent their stock options from vesting the following day.
According to Business Insider, Agrawal was set to receive ₹3,210 crore ($38.7 million), Segal ₹2,108 crore ($25.4 million), and Gadde ₹1,038 crore ($12.5 million) in stock options. Reuters reported that Agrawal and Segal were escorted out of the company premises by security following their termination.
The terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed but require Musk to fulfill certain conditions in the near term. If these conditions are not met, the lawsuit is set to resume on October 31, 2025.
Background and Legal Context
Following his 2022 acquisition of Twitter, Musk fired approximately 80% of the company’s workforce, affecting over 6,000 employees. Many of these former employees subsequently filed lawsuits regarding their terminations and unpaid severance.
Musk and X Corp have already settled thousands of cases from former employees, but several lawsuits remain active in Delaware and California courts. In August 2025, Musk and X reached a separate settlement for former Twitter employees claiming ₹41,500 crore ($500 million) in unpaid severance.
Industry experts note that these settlements reflect Musk’s strategic but controversial management style, which has significant implications for corporate governance and employee relations in high-profile tech acquisitions.
Forbes Valuation and Wealth Context
According to Forbes, Elon Musk is the world’s richest individual, with a net worth of ₹40,072 billion ($484 billion). Earlier in October 2025, a surge in Tesla’s stock value pushed his net worth to ₹41,500 billion ($500 billion), making him the first person in history to reach this milestone.
The legal settlement underscores how Musk balances personal wealth, corporate strategy, and employee legal claims, with repercussions for both investors and the global tech industry.
