Former Twitter CEO sues Elon Musk’s Company X for $20 million over unpaid stock

Omid Kordestani, the former executive chairman of Twitter (now known as X), has filed a lawsuit against the social media platform, alleging that Elon Musk refused to pay him more than $20 million in stock compensation. The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in San Francisco, joins a growing list of financial disputes related to Musk’s tumultuous takeover of Twitter.

According to the lawsuit, Kordestani received a significant portion of his compensation in the form of company stock. However, after Musk took over Twitter, the platform allegedly backed away from its obligation to pay those shares.

The lawsuit claims that X “seek[s]to profit from Kordestani’s seven years of service to Twitter without paying him for it.”

Kordestani’s lawsuit further claims that the refusal to pay him stock-based compensation is part of a broader pattern of unpaid bills under Musk’s leadership.

The lawsuit says the Musk-led platform “refuses to honor these commitments, adding to a long list of unpaid bills that have accumulated under Musk’s watch.”

The latest legal action follows a similar lawsuit filed by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and three other executives seeking about $128 million in unpaid severance pay. The lawsuit claimed that Musk showed “particular malice” toward those executives by publicly promising to withhold severance payments following his acquisition of Twitter.

The growing legal challenges and allegations of unpaid debts underscore the financial turmoil surrounding Musk’s ownership of Twitter, raising concerns about the platform’s financial stability and its ability to meet obligations to former employees and stakeholders.

As of the time of this report, neither Elon Musk nor X had made a public statement on Kordestani’s lawsuit.