# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 184
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3664 "2023-03-08T14:13:29Z")
Oh, wow, I just did that, and now Musk owes _me_ $100 million! This one weird trick! ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3665 "2023-03-08T14:28:42Z")
I have to assume if he can get his payout no questions asked right now he would do it. If he actually winds up still working at twitter I’d have to presume there would be some way it could get caught up in some sort of legal mess. But I really don’t know. He also did mention a bunch of other employees who might be the people at his company before it was bought, so maybe he’s sticking up for them - like if he cashed out he would get his 100mil but they would get fired and have nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3666 "2023-03-08T16:12:41Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There’s a non-zero chance that Twitter will collapse completely in the near future, in which case Halli will get nothing (or at least, less); if I were him I’d cash in, now. As I understand it, when a company goes under, the first priority for payment from liquidations, etc. is employee wages. Since Halli took his money in salary, he’d fall under that bucket where someone who’d taken stock or other compensation would have lost out. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3667 "2023-03-08T16:24:16Z")
I worked for a company that went under and filed bankruptcy. I never saw my last two paychecks. I know they had assets but the proceeds went elsewhere (they owned a building and some fairly expensive equipment contained within). At that time, I was paycheck to paycheck and that hurt! Not saying you are wrong, but the employees at this company never saw any payment. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3668 "2023-03-08T16:30:48Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Not saying you are wrong, but the employees at this company never saw any payment. Secure creditors get first dibs, _before_ employees. Halli would still be in line before investors, but he wouldn’t be first in line. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3669 "2023-03-08T16:33:26Z")
If his remaining $97 million (or whatever it is) is deferred compensation, and it kind of sounds like it is, under normal bankruptcy circumstances he would likely get little or none of it. That said, this is an unusual deferred compensation, and I would guess the contract he agreed to when he sold his company might give a better clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3670 "2023-03-08T16:34:37Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Secure creditors get first dibs, _before_ employees. > > Halli would still be in line before investors, but he wouldn’t be first in line. Does the fact that he’s in Iceland affects any of this? One of the threads I saw yesterday suggested that employees were in first position there. Presumably a Twitter bankruptcy would go through a US court, but how are non-US employees working under different laws dealt with? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3671 "2023-03-08T16:35:18Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > As I understand it, when a company goes under, the first priority for payment from liquidations, etc. is employee wages. Since Halli took his money in salary, he’d fall under that bucket where someone who’d taken stock or other compensation would have lost out. This is definitely not true. When I was laid off there was a protracted legal battle over the priority of Severance and we ended up being treated as ordinary unsecured creditors who got pennies on the dollar. Many creditors were ahead of us, not just secured ones. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3672 "2023-03-08T17:00:47Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > That said, this is an unusual deferred compensation, and I would guess the contract he agreed to when he sold his company might give a better clarification. This is true, it all depends on what his contract says, and we don’t have any visibility into how that payout is structured. If it was stock, then he’s an investor and wouldn’t be entitled to anything in a bankruptcy. If deferred comp then he’s behind secured creditors. Maybe it’s structured in some exotic way that we’re not aware of. Me, I’d guess that Musk is scrambling ass-over-elbows to renegotiate the contract in some way that involves an NDA preventing Halli from discussing any of this for his next 5 lifetimes. As a narcissist I’m sure Musk’s top priority is making sure nobody ever knows exactly how badly he stepped on his dick here. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3673 "2023-03-08T17:14:01Z")
I’m picturing Halli’s continuing employment in the same line as the Narrator’s employment in Fight Club. > I have a better solution. You keep me on the payroll as an outside consultant and in exchange for my salary, my job will be never to tell people these things that I know. I don’t even have to come into the office, I can do this job from home. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3674 "2023-03-08T18:37:40Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > > [@wguy123](#): > > > > Not saying you are wrong, but the employees at this company never saw any payment. > > Secure creditors get first dibs, _before_ employees. > > Halli would still be in line before investors, but he wouldn’t be first in line. Noted. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3675 "2023-03-08T20:00:44Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Secure creditors get first dibs, _before_ employees. > > Halli would still be in line before investors, but he wouldn’t be first in line. def. **not universally true** - and highly dependend on relevant **juristiction** , I’d say… e.g. for the better part of europe, def. not true … there, wages are before any other debt (for obv. reasons … countries rather have the little money go to 1000 Joe Doe’s than to Mr. Goldman and Ms. Sux) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3676 "2023-03-08T20:44:07Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > dependend on relevant **juristiction** So, Twitter being a US company, Halli being Icelandic, which jurisdiction is it under? > [@Al128](#): > > countries rather have the little money go to 1000 Joe Doe’s than to Mr. Goldman and Ms. Sux) And that makes the statement that Joe Doe doesn’t get hurt when his local bank goes out of business. In the US, we actually do have banks other than Goldman and Sachs, some people who only see the country through movies and headlines may not know that. I wonder how that works in practice. From what you said, if a company borrowed money right before closing, they would pay that money to the employees rather than back to the lender. If they hadn’t borrowed that money right before shutting down, they wouldn’t have that money to pay the employees. I’m surprised, given what you’ve said, that European banks aren’t _required_ to lend to defaulting companies so that they can pay their employees. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3677 "2023-03-08T21:16:08Z")
Looks like HR had a Come to Jesus talk with Elmo. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3678 "2023-03-08T21:24:16Z")
He fired HR, which is one of the reasons some employees can’t even figure out if they’re been fired or not. Most likely he saw he one of his personal lawyers told him his mouth was potentially costing him millions and/or he saw he was getting lambasted online over it. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3679 "2023-03-08T21:27:37Z")
I’m very sure it is the $100 million. That was high enough to reach 20,000 feet into the air. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3680 "2023-03-08T21:29:03Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Twitter being a US company, Halli being Icelandic, which jurisdiction is it under? The contract entered almost certainly had a clause where the parties agree to what will be the ruling jurisdiction in case of a dispute. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3681 "2023-03-08T21:54:47Z")
Right, I was just wondering if AL128 knew what jurisdiction it was under. I haven’t seen anything to that effect, and in general, I would assume it would be under US jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3682 "2023-03-08T22:01:06Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > this is in the hands of the lawyers. Yeah, I assume that should Halli try to get his milllions, Elon will claim that he wasn’t really fired, it was all just an HR mix up and that Elon corrected as soon as it came to his attention. So if Halli decides not to come back to work, he quit rather than was fired. I could see it being resolved either way. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/3683 "2023-03-08T22:21:42Z")
This is a slightly older tweet, but I thought it was germane. > [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=183) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=185)