IT'S ILLEGAL

‘This isn’t how I imagined leaving’: Twitter boss Parag Agrawal fires top executive on paternity leave as Musk takeover looms

Chloe Taylor

Fri, May 13, 2022, 

Twitter is shaking up its executive team and implementing a hiring freeze ahead of Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover, with departing executives venting their disappointment on the social platform.

The company confirmed on Friday that Kayvon Beykpour, head of product, and Bruce Falck, who oversaw revenue, are leaving.

Jay Sullivan, Twitter's head of consumer product, will serve as interim leader of both departments.

Beykpour said in a Twitter thread on Thursday that he had been axed by CEO Parag Agrawal during his paternity leave, adding that he was “disappointed” with the decision.

“The truth is that this isn’t how and when I imagined leaving Twitter, and this wasn’t my decision,” Beykpour said.

“Parag asked me to leave after letting me know that he wants to take the team in a different direction.”

Falck—whose Twitter bio now describes him as “unemployed”—wrote a thread on Thursday dedicated to his coworkers at the company.

He added, "I'll clarify that I too was fired by" Agrawal. Falck later deleted the tweet.

Kayvon Beykpour, co-founder and chief executive officer of Periscope, speaks during a Bloomberg West Television interview in San Francisco, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016. Periscope is a live video streaming app for iOS and Android. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Twitter has been in a state of uncertainty since Musk announced in April that his $44 billion takeover bid for the social media platform had been accepted.

Musk is still working to secure financing for his mammoth acquisition of the company, and many investors are apprehensive about whether or not the deal will really go through.

A Twitter spokesperson told Fortune on Friday that effective this week, the company was "pausing most hiring and backfills, with the exception of business-critical roles."

“We are pulling back on non-labor costs to ensure we are being responsible and efficient,” they added.

The reaction to Musk’s takeover hasn’t been overwhelmingly positive among Twitter’s existing workforce, with reports of angry messages between colleagues, crying in meetings, and warnings of a mass employee exodus.

But while there may not be much enthusiasm about a Musk-run Twitter among current employees, job interest in the company surged by 250% in the weeks following the announcement of his takeover.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com