Elon Musk and X sued by ex-Twitter GM Nick Caldwell over millions in unpaid severance

Former
Twitter
exec
Nick
Caldwell
is
suing

Elon
Musk
and
X,
alleging
a
breach
of
contract
and
a
failure
to
pay
severance
and
benefits
he
was
owed
after
resigning
from
the
company
in
2022.

In
the
suit,
filed
in
a
California
federal
court
on
Wednesday,
attorneys
for
Caldwell
claimed
that,
following
the
close
of
Musk’s
$44
billion
acquisition
of
Twitter,
the
company “cheated
Mr.
Caldwell
and
other
executives
out
of
a
combined
$200,000,000
in
severance
benefits
by
falsely
accusing
them
of
misconduct
and
purporting
to
fire
them
for ‘Cause.'”

Caldwell’s
suit
is
similar
to
one
filed
by
former
Twitter
executives,
including
ex-CEO
Parag
Agrawal,
who
claim
they
are
owed
$128
million
in

unpaid
severance.

Caldwell
is
now
chief
product
officer
for


Peloton
and
sits
on
the
board
of
several
other
tech
ventures,
according
to
his
LinkedIn
profile.
He
previously
managed
a
team
of
hundreds
of
engineers
at
Twitter
as
general
manager
of
the
Red
Bird,
or
core
tech,
organization.

According
to
the
complaint,
Caldwell
worked
to
retain
key
talent
at
Twitter
up
to
the
completion
of
the
buyout,
and
then
sent
a
letter
to
the
company
on Oct.
28,
2022,
indicating
that
he
was
resigning “for
good
reason.”
Two
days
earlier,
Musk

tweeted
a
video
of
his

entrance
into
the
company’s
headquarters,
and
wrote, “Entering
Twitter
HQ
—
let
that
sink
in!”
Musk
later
changed
the
company
name
to
X.

Twitter
accepted
Caldwell’s
resignation,
which
triggered
a “Twitter
Change
of
Control
and
Involuntary
Termination
Protection
Policy,”
for
executives
leaving
the
company
in
good
standing,
Caldwell’s
attorneys
argued.

Twitter
told
Caldwell
his
last
day
of
employment
would
be
Nov.
27,
a
month
after
his
resignation
letter.
The
company
cut
off
his
access
to
internal
systems
immediately
and
didn’t
stay
in
communication
with
him,
the
complaint
says.
By
Nov.
27,
Twitter
was
claiming
that
Caldwell
was
terminated
for
cause.

“With
no
factual
basis,
Musk
simply
accused
Mr.
Caldwell
of
misconduct
as
a
ploy
to
evade
paying
him
millions
of
dollars
in
severance
benefits
that
Musk/Twitter
owed
to
Mr.
Caldwell,”
his
attorneys
wrote.

The
suit
notes
that
Musk
brought
in
a
number
of
relatives,
investors
and
current
and
former
employees
from
his
other
companies,
SpaceX
and


Tesla,
including
some
who
worked “to
deny
the
severance
claims
filed
by
Mr.
Caldwell
and
the
other
executives
as
part
of
the
severance
benefit
plan
administration
process.”

The
suit
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
attorneys
say
in
the
filing
their
client
is
owed
around
$19.3
million
in
severance
benefits
plus
interest,
and
around
half
a
million
dollars,
which
represents
the
value
of
restricted
stock
units
that
he
should
have
been
paid
in
November
2022,
and
interest
of
around
$3
million,
plus
attorneys’
fees.

Musk
and
X
didn’t
immediately
respond
to
requests
for
comment.
Caldwell’s
attorneys
declined
to
comment
and
referred
CNBC
to
the
filing.

A
few
days
before
his
resignation
from
Twitter,
Caldwell
shared
a
post
on
social
media
saying, “My
wife
and
soulmate
Tia
Caldwell
passed
away
suddenly
the
15th
of
October.
She
was
only
39
years
old
yet
lived
a
full
beautiful
and
accomplished
life
overflowing
with
love.”
The
suit
doesn’t
mention
the
death
of
his
wife.

Read
the
full
complaint
—
Nicholas
Caldwell
v.
Elon
Musk,
X
Corp.
et
al
(Case
3:24-cv-02022)
—
below.