For those who don’t remember, Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was a bit of a mess. After his initial offer, widely considered to have dramatically over-valued the platform, Musk tried to kill the Twitter deal. The company’s executives then put legal pressure on the multi-billionaire to follow through with his offer until he ultimately made an about-face and agreed to buy Twitter at his original price. He then fired many of the same executives who led the company when it pushed Musk to buy it, claiming gross negligence and willful misconduct.
According to the WSJ, the fired Twitter executives say that these charges have no merit, and they are now collectively suing Musk for more than $128 million. The article cites the group, which claims, “This is the Musk playbook: to keep the money he owes other people, and force them to sue him. Even in defeat, Musk can impose delay, hassle, and expense on others less able to afford it.”
These individuals have argued that none of the reasons presented by Musk are supportable and that firing executives without their contractual severance sets a bad precedent, since without severance, there’s usually no reason for them to stay on during a transition that is likely to end in their termination.
