British vacuum manufacturer Dyson has settled a legal dispute with its former chief executive Max Conze after accusing him of leaking company secrets.
According to the Financial Times one person close to the situation said Mr Conze has been paid several million pounds, part of which compensates him for missing out on long-term share awards he would have received had he stayed with the company.
Both sides filed claims against each other after Mr Conze left this business in October this year after six years of service.
Dyson filed its lawsuit in November accusing Mr Conze of “disclosing confidential information” to third parties during his tenure.
Mr Conze rebutted the accusations claiming it was a “ridiculous allegation” and argued that Dyson was “merely trying to distract attention” from his own claims that have not been made public.
He insisted he had always been fully committed to the company since joining in 2010.
During his tenure, Dyson’s workforce quadrupled to 10,000, while sales rose from 5 million units to 17m units globally.
Last year the business posted record earnings of £631m before interest, tax and depreciation and amortisation, which was a 41 per cent increase on 2015. Revenue also rose by 45 per cent to £2.5 billion.
Dyson recently revealed that it is planning to launch a fully electric car in 2020, which will be built in either the UK or Southeast Asia, using its own battery technology.
Sir James Dyson (pictured) said the project, if successful, would grow to dominate the company, becoming larger than its vacuum, hair dryer or air filtering appliances.
The company plans to invest £1bn in making the car, another £1bn in battery technology and a further £500m into all of its other work.
