The September 2025 Delaware ruling did not decide whether Elon Musk owes former Twitter employees $500 million. That figure belongs to a separate class action, which the Associated Press reported had reached a tentative settlement. In Arnold v. X Corp., a different case brought by six former employees, the court dismissed claims against Musk but allowed certain severance-related claims against Twitter/X entities to proceed at an early stage.
What the September 2025 court ruling decided
On September 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued an opinion in Arnold v. X Corp., a case brought by six former employees against X Corp. (formerly Twitter, Inc.), X Holdings, and Elon Musk. The opinion addressed objections to recommendations on motions to dismiss; it was not a final trial decision about severance liability.
The court dismissed the plaintiffs’ declaratory-judgment and merger-agreement claims with prejudice. It did not dismiss their breach-of-contract and promissory-estoppel claims against the Twitter defendants at that stage. The court considered allegations that employee communications, including an Acquisition FAQ and a Severance Policy Email, made direct promises about severance and that employees stayed through the merger in reliance on those promises. The court found those allegations plausible enough to proceed, not proven.
Read the September 29, 2025 District of Delaware opinion, Document 160.
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What happened to the claims against Musk
The September opinion said the remaining challenges concerning claims against Musk would be handled separately. Later orders in the same six-plaintiff case dismissed the merger-agreement claims against Musk with prejudice and denied reconsideration in January 2026. A March 2026 opinion noted that the fraud claims had been dismissed because they did not plead fraud with the specificity required by Rule 9(b).
Those rulings concern the claims in Arnold; they do not determine Musk’s liability in the separate $500 million class action. See the January 20, 2026 order, Document 169, and the March 19, 2026 opinion, Document 174.
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How the $500 million case is different
The $500 million figure comes from a separate proposed class action brought by former Twitter employees Courtney McMillan and Ronald Cooper on behalf of former workers. The Associated Press reported on August 21, 2025, that the parties had disclosed a tentative settlement in a court filing and asked to postpone a September 17 hearing while they finalized an agreement. The appeals court postponed the hearing. AP said the proposed settlement terms had not been disclosed.
The available report describes a tentative deal, not a final settlement, and does not establish whether it was later finalized or approved. It also does not describe a court ruling that Musk personally owes $500 million. The amount was sought in the class action; it was not an adjudicated debt in the September 2025 Arnold ruling. Read the Associated Press report from August 21, 2025.
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| Question | Arnold v. X Corp. | McMillan and Cooper class action |
|---|---|---|
| Who brought it? | Six former employees, according to the District of Delaware’s September 2025 opinion. | Former employees Courtney McMillan and Ronald Cooper on behalf of former workers, according to AP’s August 2025 report. |
| What is the $500 million figure? | It is not the amount decided in this case. | The amount sought in the proposed class action, as reported by AP; it was not reported as an adjudicated award. |
| What was the reported procedural outcome? | Some contract and promissory-estoppel claims against Twitter defendants survived a motion to dismiss; claims against Musk were addressed separately and dismissed in later orders. | AP reported a tentative settlement and a postponed hearing. Final approval, terms, and later case status are not established by that report. |
Why the distinction matters
A motion-to-dismiss ruling asks whether pleaded allegations can proceed, not whether the plaintiffs have proved their claims. Likewise, a tentative settlement is not the same as an approved final settlement. The Delaware court’s rulings in Arnold therefore cannot be used to say the court rejected or resolved the separate class action’s $500 million demand.
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