Twitter executives win US$1.1 million in legal fees from Elon Musk’s X
A US judge has ruled that Twitter violated its duties to cover legal expenses generated by the work of a group of the platform’s former executivesOne former executive was summoned to testify in a congressional inquiry into the influence of social media on US electionsX (formerly Twitter)BloombergPublished: 9:24am, 4 Oct, 2023Why you can trust SCMP
X, formerly known as Twitter, must pay US$1.1 million in legal fees racked up by a group of the social-media platform’s former top executives, a judge ruled.
Lawyers for the group – led by ex-Twitter chief executive officer Parag Agrawal and former top lawyer Vijaya Gadde – Tuesday persuaded Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick that Twitter violated its duties to cover legal expenses generated by their work for the company.The former executives argued Twitter violated its own by-laws by refusing to cover the sums even though they were tied to investigations of the social-media platform’s operations. They were ousted when billionaire Elon Musk bought the company for US$44 billion last year. Musk has faced a raft of lawsuits over his failure to pay Twitter vendors for things such as rent and consulting fees.Company officials did not immediately return an email for comment Tuesday on McCormick’s ruling. She was the judge that oversaw the legal dispute tied to Musk’s attempt to nix his US$54.20-per-share offer to buy the social-media platform. He gave up his effort to invalidate the buyout in October 2022.
The company has paid about US$600,000 of what it owes, but has withheld US$1,158,427 in fees for lawyers’ work representing the former top managers in a congressional inquiry into the influence of social media on US elections, which required Gadde to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, according to legal filings.