Fired Twitter Execs May Receive $141 Million, Reports Say

Topline

Four top Twitter executives fired by billionaire Elon Musk could receive separation packages totaling $141.1 million, according to research firm Equilar, as the world’s richest man completes his $44 billion acquisition of the social media company.

Fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is one of a handful of execs expected to take in a total of $141 … [+] million.

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Key Facts

Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is expected to take in as much as $57.4 million, while CFO Ned Segal is expected to receive $44.5 million, policy chief Vijaya Gadde could take in $20 million and Chief Customer Officer Sarah Personette could take in $19.2 million, Equilar director of content Amit Batish said in a statement to Forbes Friday morning.

That includes one year’s salary and benefits, with Agrawal taking in $623,000 and Segal and Gadde each taking in $600,000, MarketWatch reported.

Agrawal, Gadde and Segal are also set to automatically receive a total of $119.6 million worth of vested stock as part of their severance package, according to Twitter’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings obtained by MarketWatch.

Agrawal was named CEO of the company last November after working at Twitter for nearly 11 years, while Gadde has served as its primary counsel for 11 years, Personette has been its CCO for one year, having worked there for five years in total, and Segal has been CFO since 2017.

The only reason the executives would not receive the massive payments is if Musk has “cause for termination” including violating company policy or breaking the law, Equilar director of research Courtney Yu told Reuters.

Twitter’s shares are up 0.66% ($0.35), to $53.70 as of 4 p.m. Thursday.

Tangent

Musk reportedly told prospective investors last week he plans to slash nearly three quarters of the company’s workforce, bringing its staff from 7,500 to roughly 2,000, the Washington Post reported—sparking concern a massive reduction could hinder the company’s ability to monitor hate speech and false statements. Musk reportedly denied the figure to Twitter staff on Wednesday, saying the 75% number is inaccurate. According to a New York Times report, laid off employees could be given payouts totaling more than $100 million.

What We Dont Know

How Musk will change the social media site, or if he does at all. The world’s richest man has repeatedly criticized Twitter’s moderation policy, expressing interest in creating a “common digital town square” for free discussion in a statement to advertisers, while also admitting it can’t become a “hellscape” where people can post anything “with no consequences.” He has also offered to lift the permanent ban on former President Donald Trump’s account—which was restricted following tweets around the January 6 insurrectio—criticizing it as a “morally bad decision” and arguing permanent bans “fundamentally undermine trust.” Last week, he tweeted at musician Kanye West, welcoming to Twitter after his Instagram account was restricted over antisemitic comments, although Twitter later locked the musician’s account. Musk’s plan for an open market of ideas, however, has sparked pushback from some groups, which as a gateway for hate speech and an easy way for false claims to spread.

Key Background

Musk had criticized the longtime executives, arguing the company undercounted the number of fake “bot” accounts it had on the platform, and taking aim at the company’s moderation policies, which he said were too restrictive, as well as its restrictions on certain accounts, including its permanent ban on former President Donald Trump.

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What We Dont Know

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