A group of former Australian Twitter employees are reportedly being asked to return outsized severance pay, apparently because their former employers don't understand how to convert currency.
Return our money, you were paid way too much' : Elon Musk's X demands from laid-off employees
The Sydney Morning Herald reported X's demands yesterday, saying letters had been sent to "at least" six former Twitter employees, one of whom had reportedly been overpaid by as much as AU$70,000 ($46.6k, £36.5k). All details were shared anonymously with the newspaper.
The Herald, which said it could see a copy of the letters sent to the former employees, reported that the payments were related to deferred cash compensation – a scheme that sets aside a payout for when an employee either leaves or retires. In this case, Twitter employees were awarded shares in the company when they joined to receive a payout upon leaving. Some of the employees who were asked to repay the money are said to have been fired more than 18 months ago.
It appears that an incorrect currency conversion between US dollars and Australian dollars was carried out, which in one case paid out more than 2.5 times the actual value of the shares. The famously broken X could use every penny it can get right now, so sorry, former employees who have had the money in some cases for more than a year.
