Thursday, Nov 14, 2024

Ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has just sued Elon Musk's company, months after he got fired. Here's a rundown of the pair's feud, which included clashes over bots and multiple lawsuits.


Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal; Tesla CEO Elon Musk
  • Elon Musk and ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal appeared to first talk last March, when they met for dinner.
  • But a year later, Musk now owns Twitter and has fired Agrawal, who in turn filed a lawsuit against the company.
  • From clashes over bots to a Twitter unfollowing, here's a history of their relationship.
Musk & Agrawal appeared to first talk in March 2022

Elon Musk with bright lights behind him.
Elon Musk.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk started buying Twitter stock on an almost-daily basis in January 2022.

By the spring, Musk had accumulated a 9.2% share in Twitter, making him its biggest shareholder. Shortly after, it was revealed that Musk was going to join its board.

Messages between Musk and Agrawal were released in September as part of a lawsuit Twitter filed against Musk.

"Hey Elon - great to be connected directly. Would love to chat," Agrawal said in a message to Musk on March 27, 2022.

Musk, Agrawal, and Twitter chair Bret Taylor met for a meal near San Jose on March 31.

"Great dinner :)," Musk messaged after.

"Memorable for multiple reasons," Agrawal texted. "Really enjoyed it."

Agrawal called Musk "both a passionate believer and intense critic" of Twitter

SUN VALLEY, IDAHO - JULY 07: Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, walks to a morning session during the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 07, 2022 in Sun Valley, Idaho. The world's most wealthy and powerful businesspeople from the media, finance, and technology will converge at the Sun Valley Resort this week for the exclusive conference.

"I'm super excited about the opportunity and look forward to working closely and finding ways to use your time as effectively as possible to improve Twitter and the public conversation," Agrawal texted on April 3, 2022.

Agrawal announced publicly that Musk was joining the board in a tweet two days later, saying that Musk was "both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term."

Agrawal warned Musk that not all Twitter staff liked him

A picture of Elon Musk from the shoulders up. He's wearing a black t-shirt and clasping his left hand to his head with a calm expression on his face.

On April 7, 2022, Agrawal asked Musk to speak to Twitter staff and answer questions on "the future of Twitter and why it matters." He warned Musk that there would also be some questions "from people who are upset that you are involved and generally don't like you for some reason."

"I think there is a large silent majority that is excited about you bring [sic] on the board," Agrawal later added.

Musk texted Agrawal saying that he had "ton of ideas" for the platform, and Agrawal seemed eager to listen.

"I want to hear all the ideas — and I'll tell you which ones I'll make progress on," Agrawal responded.

Musk asked whether Twitter was "dying" and then U-turned on joining its board

Elon Musk speaks at an oil and gas conference in Stavanger, Norway on Monday.

It didn't take long for the relationship to sour.

Musk tweeted just days later, on April 9, that some of Twitter's most-followed accounts "tweet rarely and post very little content."

"Is Twitter dying?" he asked.

Agrawal understandably didn't like the tweet.

"You are free to tweet 'is Twitter dying?' or anything else about Twitter — but it's my responsibility to tell you that it's not helping me make Twitter better in the current context," Agrawal texted Musk later that day.

"What did you get done this week?" Musk replied less than two minutes later in a string of texts. "I'm not joining the board. This is a waste of time. Will make an offer to take Twitter private."

"Can we talk?" Agrawal replied. Musk didn't appear to respond to him, per the message logs published as part of the lawsuit, but he did reply to a message from Taylor and told him that Twitter needed "drastic action."

Agrawal said it was "for the best" Musk didn't join Twitter's board

Twitter logo on building

Two days after those messages were sent, Agrawal announced that Musk would no longer be joining the board.

"I believe this is for the best," Agrawal said.

Musk said he wasn't confident about Twitter's management

Elon Musk attends The 2022 Met Gala.

Musk made an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share in cash, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on April 13, 2022 revealed.

In the filing, Musk showed his lack of support for Agrawal's leadership.

"If the deal doesn't work, given that I don't have confidence in management nor do I believe I can drive the necessary change in the public market, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder," he wrote in the filing.

Without the changes Musk sought, Twitter was "simply not a good investment," he wrote.

Twitter agreed to the deal on April 25.

It was "clear" Musk and Agrawal couldn't work together, former Twitter CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey said

jack dorsey

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acted as a mediator during a phone call between Agrawal and Musk on April 26.

Musk texted Dorsey afterwards, saying that Agrawal was "moving far too slowly and trying to please people who will not be happy no matter what he does."

"At least it became clear that you can't work together," Dorsey replied. "That was clarifying."

Musk accused Agrawal's lawyers of trying to "cause trouble"

Elon Musk.

Musk texted Agrawal and then-Twitter CFO Ned Segal on June 28 after they requested information about the status of Musk's financing for the deal.

"Your lawyers are using these conversations to cause trouble," Musk texted, legal filings reveal. "That needs to stop."

Musk and Agrawal clashed repeatedly over bots

Elon Musk

Musk has repeatedly expressed concerns about the number of bot accounts on the platform.

In May, Musk appeared to be hesitant about the Twitter deal, tweeting that he'd put it "on hold" until Twitter gave him more data related to the number of bots on the platform. He also told his lawyers to "slow down" the deal, text messages show.

Twitter says bots make up less than 5% of the platform's 238 million monetized daily active users. Research by the digital-intelligence provider Similarweb backs up these claims, but found that because these accounts tweet so much, between 20% and 29% of US Twitter content is generated by spam accounts.

Agrawal posted a thread on Twitter explaining why Musk's plan to survey the number of bots on the platform was flawed. Musk responded to the thread with a poop emoji.

Musk backtracked on the deal

Elon Musk's Twitter account with Twitter logo.

In July, Musk sent a letter to Twitter terminating the deal, claiming that the social-media giant had withheld or distorted data on the number of bot accounts on the platform.

In some cases Twitter had refused to share data, while in others it gave him "incomplete or unusable information," Musk's lawyers said.

Twitter then sued Musk

Elon Musk grimaces while looking off to side against black backdrop

Within days of Musk terminating the deal, Twitter sued him to force him to complete the deal, accusing him of "refusing to honor his obligations."

Musk countersued Twitter

elon musk

Musk countersued later in July, alleging that the company intentionally miscounted the number of spam accounts as part of what he called "its scheme to mislead investors about the company's prospects."

Musk is still adamant Twitter is lying about the number of bots in the platform

Elon Musk at the 2022 Met Gala.

In August, Musk called on Agrawal to take part in a "public debate" about the percentage of bots on the platform.

"Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!," Musk wrote.

Musk eventually agreed to go ahead with the $44 billion deal

Twitter Headquarters is seen in San Francisco, California, United States on September 27, 2022.

After months of Musk trying to abandon the deal, his lawyers sent Twitter a letter renewing the original offer on October 4.

Musk and Twitter came close to agreeing a deal at a roughly 8% discount for the tech mogul, sources told Insider.

But the talks fell through after the two sides clashed, with Musk's attorney saying that Twitter's executives and board wanted "all kinds of things" in the renegotiated deal that the billionaire refused to accept.

Musk quickly fired Agrawal after taking control of Twitter in late October

twitter parag agrawal

The deal final went through on October 27, just hours before the deadline given to Musk by court.

One of the tech mogul's first moves was to fire Agrawal. The same evening, Musk also ousted CFO Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett.

Agrawal and other former Twitter execs have now sued Twitter

parag agrawal twitter CEO headshot

Agrawal, Segal, and Gadde filed a lawsuit against the company on Monday, alleging it owes them more than $1 million in legal costs.

The former execs allege in the lawsuit that they had agreements with Twitter that it would repay the "significant" fees they spent on legal costs relating to separate actions against the company, but that Twitter hasn't gone ahead with this.

Read the original article on Business Insider
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By: [email protected] (Grace Dean)
Title: Ex-Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has just sued Elon Musk's company, months after he got fired. Here's a rundown of the pair's feud, which included clashes over bots and multiple lawsuits.
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-parag-agrawal-relationship-history-fired-lawsuit-bot-2022-10
Published Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2023 11:27:39 +0000

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