Harun Ozalp | Anadolu Agency | Getty Pictures
Former Twitter exec Nick Caldwell is suing Elon Musk and X, alleging a breach of contract and a failure to shell out severance and gains he was owed after resigning from the enterprise in 2022.
In the fit, filed in a California federal courtroom on Wednesday, attorneys for Caldwell claimed that, pursuing the close of Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, the business “cheated Mr. Caldwell and other executives out of a combined $200,000,000 in severance added benefits by falsely accusing them of misconduct and purporting to fireplace them for ‘Cause.'”
Caldwell’s go well with is identical to yet another submitted by former Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, who declare they are owed $128 million in unpaid severance.
Caldwell is now main item officer for Peloton and sits on the board of many other tech ventures, according to his LinkedIn profile. He formerly managed a team of hundreds of engineers at Twitter as general manager of the Pink Chicken, or core tech, firm.
According to the grievance, Caldwell worked to retain important talent at Twitter up to the completion of the buyout, and then sent a letter to the firm on Oct. 28, 2022, indicating that he was resigning “for great purpose.” Two days previously, Musk tweeted a movie of his entrance into the company’s headquarters, and wrote, “Coming into Twitter HQ – permit that sink in!”
Twitter recognized Caldwell’s resignation, which activated a “Twitter Change of Handle and Involuntary Termination Defense Plan,” for executives leaving the business in great standing, Caldwell’s lawyers argued.
Twitter advised Caldwell his final working day of employment would be Nov. 27, a month right after his resignation letter. The company cut off his access to interior programs instantly and failed to stay in communication with him, the criticism claims. By Nov. 27, Twitter was proclaiming that Caldwell was terminated for bring about.
“With no factual foundation, Musk simply accused Mr. Caldwell of misconduct as a ploy to evade paying him hundreds of thousands of bucks in severance added benefits that Musk / Twitter owed to Mr. Caldwell,” his attorneys wrote,
The accommodate notes that Musk introduced in a selection of family, traders and existing and former staff members from his other organizations, SpaceX and Tesla, which includes some who worked “to deny the severance promises submitted by Mr. Caldwell and the other executives as part of the severance gain program administration method.”
The match names Brian Bjelde and Lindsay Chapman who work at SpaceX, and Dhruv Batura who previously worked in finance at Tesla, as defendants alongside Musk.
Caldwell’s lawyers say in the submitting their client is owed about $19.3 million in severance benefits plus interest, and about 50 % a million bucks, which signifies the worth of restricted stock units that he ought to have been paid out in November 2022, and desire of all over $3 million, moreover attorneys’ service fees.
Musk and X failed to instantly respond to requests for remark. Caldwell’s lawyers declined to comment and referred CNBC to the filing.
A few times just before his resignation from Twitter, Caldwell shared a submit on social media declaring, “My wife and soulmate Tia Caldwell passed absent quickly the 15th of October. She was only 39 yrs outdated still lived a complete lovely and achieved existence overflowing with love.” The suit won’t mention the loss of life of his spouse.
Browse the comprehensive complaint — Nicholas Caldwell v. Elon Musk, X Corp. et al (Situation 3:24-cv-02022) — underneath.