New Delhi

Twitter's top executives, including Parag Agrawal and Vijaya Gadde will be entitled to "golden parachute" payouts worth more than USD 122 million after being fired by the company's new owner, Elon Musk.

A "golden parachute" is essentially a contract which entitles top executives of a company to substantial benefits in case they lose their jobs following a merger, takeover or acquisition. This measure is also known as a 'poison pill' since it can act as a safeguard against hostile takeovers.

In August, US-based corporate research firm Equilar had estimated that ex-CEO Paras Agrawal alone could receive a USD 42 million payout if he is terminated after the takeover.

The debt-funded deal has become a costly exercise even for Musk, the world's richest man.

Legal costs in particular are likely to have run into the tens of millions of dollars after Musk tried to terminate the deal with Twitter in July, arguing that the company had misled him over the number of bot accounts on the social network.

Agrawal is likely to receive the largest payout, worth USD 57.4 million, while Segal and Gedde are entitled to USD 44.5 million and USD 20 million respectively, according to company filings.

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The three executives also hold a cumulative 1.2 million shares, which are likely to be bought by Musk as is standard in any takeover. Those payments would be worth USD 8.4 million to Agrawal, USD 22mn to Segal and USD 34.8 million to Gadde.