X owner Elon Musk has been slapped with another lawsuit from a former official who used to work with the company—this time to the tune of $20 million.
Omid Kordestani, the former chairman of Twitter, which has since been rebranded to X after Musk bought the social media platform and boasts it as an avenue for free speech, is accusing the new CEO of the business of failing to hold up his end of cashing out of the former employee’s stock shares.
Kordestani served as the company’s executive chairman from 2015 until 2020, staying on as a board member for two years after that, up until it was bought by Musk for $44 billion. The former executive reportedly left a high-paying role with Google to work for Twitter at an annual rate of $50,000. Most of his work earnings came from stocks.
But according to the lawsuit—filed last week in San Francisco—Musk is now accused of refusing to pay Kordestani his shares. He argued that the CEO was supposed to pay him immediately after buying out the company. The lawsuit alleges that X is now trying to “reap the benefits” of the former executive’s “seven years of service” to the company instead of paying him his fair share of income.
His stock totaled 800,000 options—plus more payouts—that adds up to $3 million in addition to the $20 million earnings he said he never got from X. The current lawsuit now states that the company and its CEO “refuse to meet” their responsibility to pay the money, increasing the “list of unpaid bills” that has accumulated while X is under Musk’s “watch.”
But the social media company is facing more than Kordestani’s legal challenge. In March, four individuals who used to hold executive positions within the company filed a lawsuit for similarly unpaid but earned compensation. Additionally, mass lawsuits have been launched and joined by thousands of previous Twitter employees, alleging they were unjustly fired or not given proper severance pay.
In response to the intense legal accusations waged against him, Musk rejected the allegations and instead insisted that former executives and employees are responsible for willful misconduct and gross negligence—and that he let them go legally.
