Elon Musk and his company X have reached a settlement with former employees. The group of staff had sued for $500 million in unpaid severance.
The deal was revealed in a court filing on Wednesday. Both sides asked the San Francisco appeals court to postpone a hearing. They said they needed extra time to finalize the paperwork.
Legal fight began after mass job cuts
The dispute started after Musk dismissed about 6,000 staff in 2022. That represented more than half of the workforce. Many of those affected filed lawsuits against the company over severance.
Lawyers for the workers and representatives of X have so far declined to comment.
Court filings confirmed a settlement in principle had been reached. They also noted both parties are negotiating the final version.
Settlement details not public
The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. A court must approve the settlement before it takes effect.
Former employee Courtney McMillian led the case. She claimed thousands of staff were denied benefits promised in the company’s severance plan.
The lawsuit argued employees should have received up to six months of pay. Instead, most got one month or less. Some got nothing.
Musk’s layoffs reshaped company operations
The job cuts dismantled vital teams such as trust and safety, human rights, and media relations. Musk’s actions marked one of the first large-scale cost-cutting moves in the technology sector.
Other tech giants soon followed. Google, Microsoft, and Facebook went on to dismiss tens of thousands of staff. These reductions came after years of heavy hiring during the pandemic’s digital boom.
Musk repeated tactics in government
Earlier this year, Musk briefly headed President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. The agency aimed to cut costs and reduce jobs. Musk used the same approach there, overseeing thousands of federal layoffs.
