In his takeover of the social network, Elon Musk recently fired executives from Twitter, costing them millions of dollars in severance payments.
After completing the $44 billion takeover on Thursday, according to Reuters, Mr. Musk removed the company's chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, former general counsel Sean Edgett, and head of legal affairs and policy Vijaya Gadde.
According to The New York Times, the Tesla CEO fired the executives "for cause," which meant they broke company rules and forfeited the $20 million to $60 million that was due as compensation.
Termination can happen for cause or without cause. Generally speaking, an employee who is fired for cause is being terminated for their misconduct. They could have broken the law, violated an important company policy, or made a serious mistake or lapse in judgment that put the company at risk.
In the months leading up to the completion of the deal, Mr Musk repeatedly claimed that the company was poorly run.
However, the reported “for cause” sackings risk triggering a protracted legal battle with the former executives, who were reportedly considering their options over the weekend.
This further reinforces Elon’s plans of Twitter becoming a place that no longer allows misconduct amongst leadership.