Elon Musk to lay off workers across Twitter, NYT says
Firings could take place before November 1, when employees of the social media company are set to receive stock grants
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Elon Musk plans to lay off staff at Twitter, with some managers at the social media company being asked to draft lists of employees to fire, the New York Times reported, citing sources.
Mr Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Friday after months of deliberations during which the billionaire questioned the number of users on the platform but finally gave in as a drawn-out litigation process neared.
Mr Musk, who is the world's richest man and has 110 million Twitter followers, ordered cuts across company, which has about 7,500 staff, the Times said.
The firings are likely to take place before November 1, when employees are set to receive stocks grants as part of their compensation, the newspaper said.
Firing staff before November 1, could assist Mr Musk in avoiding paying the grants to staff, which usually account for a large portion of an employee's pay, it said.
However, under the terms of the acquisition agreement of the company, Twitter employees are supposed to receive cash payments in lieu of their stock grants.
Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and finance chief Ned Segal left the company and will not be returning, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing sources. Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal policy, trust and safety, was reportedly fired, the Washington Post reported.
The three top executives of Twitter stand to receive separation payouts totalling some $122 million, Reuters reported, citing research company Equilar.
Mr Musk has accused the executives of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Mr Musk plans to be chief executive at Twitter and intends to lift permanent bans on users because he does not believe in lifelong prohibitions, Bloomberg reported, citing a source. That could pave the way for the return of former US president Donald Trump to the social media platform.
“To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter's content moderation policies,” Mr Musk said in a post on Twitter.
Twitter will be forming a content moderation council “with widely diverse viewpoints”, he said.
“No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
Mr Musk and Twitter were given until Friday by a US judge to finalise the deal, which has dragged on since April when the Tesla chief executive offered to buy it at $54.20 a share.
He tried to walk away from the deal in May after accusing the social media company of understating the number of bot and fake accounts on the platform, which Twitter denied and led to a series of lawsuits between the two parties. The deal was finally completed ahead of an October 28 deadline set by a US judge, which if missed would have paved the way for a trial.
Reuters
Publishing date: Oct 29, 2022 •
KYIV — A senior Ukrainian official expressed skepticism on Saturday about the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk, whose relations with Kyiv have been precarious since the billionaire suggested in early October Ukraine should give up occupied land for peace.
Musk, a self-declared “free speech absolutist,” has expressed desire to shake up Twitter’s content moderation, and tweeted that “the bird is freed” after completing the purchase.
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Saturday: “Did the bird really get its freedom, or has it just moved to a new cage?”
He pointed to Musk’s “unusual moderation” of the site. Musk tweeted on Friday that Twitter would form a content moderation council “with widely diverse viewpoints.”
The Tesla boss drew fury from Kyiv and praise from Moscow this month when he posted a Twitter poll proposing Ukraine permanently cede Crimea to Russia, that new referendums be held under U.N. auspices to determine the fate of Russian-controlled territory, and that Ukraine agree to neutrality.
Kyiv’s reaction to his takeover of Twitter also contrasted sharply with Moscow’s, where the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, tweeted his congratulations to Musk on Friday.
“Good luck (Elon Musk) in overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter. And quit that Starlink in Ukraine business,” Medvedev wrote, referring to the thousands of satellite-connected internet devices Musk’s company SpaceX operates in Ukraine.
Starlinks are a key communication tool for Ukraine’s armed forces, as regular mobile and internet connection is either missing or not secure in many frontline areas.
Reports appeared in U.S. media in mid-October that SpaceX could start demanding payment from the U.S. government for Starlink services in Ukraine, which Musk says will cost the company $100 million by the end of 2022.
Musk responded to the reports by saying that SpaceX had withdrawn the request.
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