Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Likely to Receive $42 Million If Terminated

Parag Agrawal was appointed the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter in November 2021 after Jack Dorsey stepped down from the post. He previously served the social networking company as chief technology officer (CTO).

A day after SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk struck a deal to buy Twitter, research firm Equilar estimated that the chief executive of the social media company, Parag Agrawal, would get $42 million if terminated within 12 months of the change in control.

According to a spokesperson for the research firm, the estimate includes a year’s worth of Agrawal’s base salary plus accelerated vesting of all equity awards based on the Tesla CEO’s offering price of $54.20 per share and terms in the company’s recent proxy statement.

After the deal was signed on Monday, Agrawal and Twitter board chair Bret Taylor held a meeting with employees and told them that the microblogging site will keep operating as usual until the deal to sell the company to Musk closes later this year.

Agrawal reassured employees that their stock grants, which can make up a large part of compensation, will continue to vest in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Taylor explained the board's fiduciary duty and informed them that Twitter's board would no longer exist once the deal is finalised.

SpaceX founder bought Twitter for $44 billion on Monday. In a securities filing on 14 April, Musk had said that he did not have confidence in Twitter’s management.

In an official statement, the company said: "Twitter, Inc. […] has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an entity wholly owned by Elon Musk, for $54.20 per share in cash in a transaction valued at approximately $44 billion. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company".

Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey also hailed the acquisition.