An IIT graduate with a ₹100 crore salary, who was previously fired by Elon Musk, has launched his own AI company. Parag Agarwal, who was once the CEO of X (formerly Twitter) under Musk’s ownership, received significant attention for his high-profile role and impressive compensation package, which included a ₹8 crore salary plus restricted stock units worth around ₹94 crore.
Agarwal’s tenure at X ended abruptly when Musk took over and made sweeping executive changes, including firing Agarwal. According to a book by Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner, the dismissal was partly due to Agarwal’s refusal to block an account tracking Musk’s private jet, a move Musk demanded prior to completing the Twitter acquisition.
Following his departure, Agarwal was supposed to receive around ₹400 crore in severance pay but has yet to receive any compensation. He, along with other ex-Twitter executives, has since filed a lawsuit against Musk, claiming they were denied over ₹1000 crore in severance payments.
Now, Agarwal is focusing on the AI sector with his new startup, which recently secured ₹249 crore in funding. The company aims to develop software for working with large language models, akin to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The funding round was led by Khosla Ventures and also saw participation from Index Ventures and First Round Capital.
