Elon Musk's X demands repayment from former Australian employees over pay error

Billionaire Elon Musk's X has asked its former employees in Australia to return money it claims was overpaid due to a X 9825413error, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The social media platform, previously known as Twitter, acknowledged the mistake of converting US dollars to Australian dollars when paying out entitlements, resulting in overpayments of up to $70,000 in some cases. Overpayments reportedly ranged from $1,500 to $70,000, and at least six former employees have received legal notices.

"It has come to our attention that you received a significant overpayment in error in January 2023," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted X's Asia Pacific human resources department as stating in an email to several former employees.


"We would be grateful if you could arrange the repayment to us at your earliest convenience," it added. The company also indicated that the overpayment was related to "deferred cash compensation" in the form of employee shares issued when they joined Twitter.

X has faced multiple lawsuits accusing it of numerous labour and workplace violations, including failing to pay severance to thousands of workers fired after Musk's $44 billion acquisition in 2022.

Earlier last year, thousands of former Twitter employees claimed they were cheated out of severance pay when the billionaire laid them off after acquiring the social media platform.