Elon Musk has never shied away from a fight — whether it’s with regulators, rivals, or presidents. But after his latest very public squabble with President Donald Trump, the billionaire is finding his sprawling empire pulled in several directions at once: lawsuits, layoffs, high-stakes bets in AI, and now, a fragile truce with thousands of ex-Twitter workers.
This week, Musk’s social media outfit X Corp (formerly Twitter) reached a tentative deal to settle a massive $500 million lawsuit brought by former employees who claimed they were stiffed on severance after his 2022 takeover. More than 6,000 staff were axed in Musk’s cost-cutting blitz, and the workers said a 2019 plan entitled them to months of extra pay. Musk’s company fought the claims, won an early dismissal, but the case clawed its way back on appeal. Now, with a September hearing looming, X blinked.
The financial details of the settlement aren’t public yet, but it’s one more reminder of how messy Musk’s shotgun approach to management can get. His brand thrives on disruption — but disruption leaves scars, and they’re showing up in court dockets.
And it’s not just the severance battle. Former top Twitter executives, including ex-CEO Parag Agrawal, are still suing Musk for millions they say he owes them. Musk’s insistence on tearing up old contracts and reshaping institutions — whether a tech company or, briefly, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — creates exactly this kind of legal blowback.
At the same time, Musk is waging war on another front: artificial intelligence. In February, he tried to mount a jaw-dropping $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI, the company he co-founded and then fell out with. The bid fizzled, but court filings now show Musk even approached his frenemy Mark Zuckerberg for cash to pull it off. Yes — the same Zuckerberg he once challenged to a cage fight. Neither Meta nor Zuck signed on, but the move underscores how serious Musk is about pushing his AI startup, xAI, as a rival to OpenAI and Microsoft’s ecosystem.
That fight is heading to trial in 2026, with OpenAI accusing Musk of harassment and a “sham bid.” Musk, for his part, claims OpenAI betrayed its founding mission by chasing profits. Behind the legal drama, it’s really about who controls the future of AI — and Musk wants in at any cost.
All of this is unfolding as Musk feuds openly with President Trump, who has leaned on him as both a high-profile ally and a useful foil. Musk briefly helmed Trump’s government “efficiency” department, slashing federal jobs with the same zeal he applied at Twitter. But lately, tensions have spilled into the open — with Trump accusing Musk of being insufficiently loyal and Musk needling Trump on social media. Their clash matters because Trump has made reshaping the Fed and tech regulation a political priority, and Musk’s businesses (from Tesla to Starlink to X) live or die on federal contracts, subsidies, and regulatory goodwill.
So where does all of this leave Musk? In a familiar place: fighting on all fronts, making massive bets, and daring the world to keep up. Settling the X severance case may clear one headache, but bigger battles — AI dominance, Trump-world politics, and the profitability of his shrinking social platform — are still raging.
If Musk loses his war with OpenAI or drifts too far from Trump, the richest man in the world could find his influence slipping. But if he manages to bulldoze through, as he often does, he’ll have reshaped not just one industry — but several.
With input from FOX Business, BBC, CNN, CNBC, Reuters, and the Financial Times.
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