Twitter CEO to receive $42 million if fired by Elon Musk

A few hours ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk struck a deal to buy social media giant Twitter for $44 billion. At the time, little was known about the details of the acquisition. But now, we’re getting more insights about the terms of the deal.

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal would get an estimated $42 million if he were terminated within 12 months of a change in control at the social media company, according to a report from Reuters, citing research firm Equilar. A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on Equilar’s estimate.

There’s a possibility that he might be let go given Musk’s remarks in the securities filing on April 14 when he had said he did not have confidence in Twitter’s management.

How did Equilar arrive at $42 million?

Equilar’s spokesperson told Reuters that the company’s estimate includes one year’s worth of Agrawal’s base salary plus accelerated vesting of all equity awards. The amount is also based on Musk’s offering price of $54.20 per share and terms in the company’s recent proxy statement.

Agrawal, previously Twitter’s chief technology officer, was named CEO in November. His total compensation for 2021 was $30.4 million, according to Twitter’s proxy, largely in stock awards.

Under the terms of the agreement, Twitter stockholders will receive $54.20 in cash for each share of Twitter common stock that they own upon closing the proposed transaction. The purchase price represents a 38% premium to Twitter’s closing stock price on April 1, 2022, which was the last trading day before Mr. Musk disclosed his approximately 9% stake in Twitter.