Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco. Former chief executive Parag Agrawal is in court trying to force the company to cover legal fees related to lawsuits and government probes. Photograph: Jim Wilson/The New York TimesTwitter’s former chief executive revealed the US Justice Department and the US Securities and Exchange Commission investigated the social-media platform in the past as part of his effort to force the company to cover legal fees related to lawsuits and government probes.
Parag Agrawal, ousted last year by new owner Elon Musk, and other former executives said in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit Monday that they’ve spent more than $1 million on lawyers in connection with the probes and shareholder lawsuits over their management of the firm. Mr Agrawal said in the complaint his lawyer was contacted by representatives of the Justice Department late in 2022 “regarding certain investigations related to the company.” He didn’t elaborate. The New York Times had reported on the lawsuit earlier.
Mr Musk had been contacted earlier in 2022 by the SEC and the Federal Trade Commission over his initial disclosure of acquiring a major stake in Twitter. The billionaire’s lawyers sought to limit disclosures of the contacts with the government, citing confidentiality rules around communications with attorneys.