Elon Musk, X Settle $500m Dispute with Former Twitter Employees
Elon Musk’s social media company, X, has reached a tentative settlement with thousands of former employees who accused the firm of withholding severance benefits following mass layoffs.
In a joint filing submitted on Wednesday, lawyers for both sides asked the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco to delay a scheduled hearing while they finalize the terms of the agreement. The deal, which remains confidential, will still require judicial approval before taking effect.
The case, led by ex-Twitter worker Courtney McMillian, alleged that roughly 6,000 employees were denied severance payments worth up to six months’ salary after Musk acquired Twitter in 2022. Instead, the company reportedly offered a maximum of one month’s pay, with some staff receiving nothing at all.
The layoffs gutted more than half of the platform’s global workforce, including teams handling trust and safety, human rights, and media. The cuts mirrored broader retrenchments across Silicon Valley, as companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft also scaled back after pandemic-era hiring booms.
Musk’s restructuring of X (formerly Twitter) has been one of the most high-profile corporate downsizing efforts in the tech sector, drawing criticism for its scale and the disputes over compensation.
Further details of the settlement have not yet been disclosed.
