Ex-Twitter executives filed a class action lawsuit on Monday against the platform, demanding that it reimburse them for legal expenses incurred in connection with shareholder lawsuits and authorities’ investigations into their former company.
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Parag Agrawal, the social network’s former boss, Vijaya Gadde, the former legal director and Ned Segal, the former chief financial officer, are claiming more than $1 million from Twitter, according to the complaint filed with a specialized court in Delaware and published by the New York Times.
They were all fired by Elon Musk on October 27, 2022, the day the boss of Tesla and SpaceX bought the platform.
The complaint reports numerous legal costs related to lawsuits, but also to investigations by the SEC (the American stock market policeman) and the Department of Justice. It does not specify the nature of the ministry’s investigation, nor whether it is still relevant.
The SEC is investigating whether Elon Musk followed the rules when he took a stake in Twitter.
The plaintiffs say they requested reimbursement of their costs from Twitter more than two months ago, to no avail. They mention in particular the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by Vijaya Gadde to prepare for a hearing before a parliamentary committee at the end of January.
Requested by AFP, the email from Twitter dedicated to the press automatically replied with a now usual emoticon in the shape of poop.
In the wake of a tumultuous acquisition, Elon Musk laid off thousands of employees of the San Francisco group, reducing it to the bare minimum – around 2,000 employees instead of 7,500, according to estimates.
Several complaints have been filed by office owners, consultants and contractors demanding payment of rent and bills from Twitter. In February, the Wall Street Journal estimated total outstanding amounts at $14 million, not including interest.
In December, the multibillionaire said in an online discussion that he had undertaken to “cut costs like crazy” to avoid a cessation of payments, while many advertisers, put off by the new boss, no longer buy spaces on the platform.