Elon Musk’s X asks sacked Australian employees to return money after currency conversion error

At least six former employees have received legal notices to return the overpaid severance.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, is threatening legal action against former Australian employees, demanding the return of severance that was allegedly overpaid due to a currency conversion error. The platform, formerly known as Twitter, acknowledged the mistake and is seeking repayments of up to $70,000 in some instances, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The overpayments occurred after X miscalculated the currency conversion from US to Australian dollars when issuing payments. Some of the employees were terminated more than 18 months ago. At least six former employees have received legal notices, according to the report.

As per the outlet, in an email from X’s Asia Pacific human resources department, the company stated, “It has come to our attention that you received a significant overpayment in error in January 2023. We would be grateful if you could arrange the repayment to us [using the account details below] at your earliest convenience.”

The overpayments pertain to “deferred cash compensation” in the form of employee shares issued when the staff joined Twitter. These shares were valued at $US54.20 ($82) each, the price at which Musk acquired Twitter in 2022. The number of shares an employee received depended on their tenure with the company.

The currency conversion error resulted in overpayments ranging from $1,500 to $70,000. One account indicates that X paid out the share entitlements at a conversion rate 2.5 times the actual value of the shares.

The report further stated that separate correspondence from X representatives warned former employees that failure to comply with the repayment demand could result in legal action. “Twitter Australia Holdings Pty Ltd reserves the right to commence proceedings for the recovery of the overpayment, together with interest,” the letter stated.