Former Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal, ex-legal head Vijaya Gadde and former chief financial officer Ned Segal have sued Elon Musk-run Twitter over legal bills mounting to $1 million that still remain unpaid. Musk had informed Agarwal, Gadde and Segal about the termination of their employment in October last year after he took control of the micro-blogging site.
According to the latest lawsuit filed in the Delaware Chancery Court in the US, the trio alleged that Twitter has to pay them more than $1 million for legal fees they incurred while at the company to respond to queries by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in several hearings. Agrawal and Segal were named as defendants in the Securities Class Action in September while both still were working at Twitter.
Gadde was named as a defendant in the Securities Class Action in February this year, when the plaintiffs filed an Amended Class Action Complaint, according to the lawsuit. "Their involvement in the Securities Class Action is by reason of their previous roles as officers of Twitter and accordingly Agrawal, Gadde, and Segal are entitled to advancement of Expenses incurred in connection therewith," the lawsuit read.
According to the court filing, the trio incurred significant expenses, including but not limited to attorneys fees and costs, in connection with several proceedings in which plaintiffs are involved by virtue of their former roles as officers of Twitter, and "accordingly are entitled to advancement of those fees and costs". According to reports, these three top executives had an exit package of around $90-100 million when they left Twitter.
Agrawal was set to receive the largest payout at around $40 million, largely due "to the entirety of his shares vesting upon his firing". Segal was set to receive more than $25 million while Gadde, the then chief legal officer at Twitter, was to be richer by more than $13 million.
(With inputs from IANS)
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