POSTMODERN ROBBER BARON

Laid-off Twitter manager says he was told not to address employees' questions and concerns after Elon Musk's takeover, which felt 'evil'

Kate Duffy
Thu, December 15, 2022

An ex-Twitter manager said being told to ignore his workers' concerns after Musk joined felt "evil."


Amir Shevat said Twitter failed to communicate with staff about what was going on.


Shevat, who said he looked after 150 staff, told Insider he was laid off with most of his team.

A senior Twitter employee who was laid off said it felt wrong to ignore questions and concerns from his team after Elon Musk acquired the platform.

Amir Shevat, the former head of product for Twitter's developer platform, told Insider on Tuesday that the company's management style changed immediately after Musk took over in late October.

"We got zero communication," Shevat said. "Not only that, we were told as managers not to gather our team and address their questions and concerns. It felt a little evil, I'm sorry to say, and bullish."

Shevat said there were 150 people on his team, but he was told that only two workers remained, post-layoffs. He said he found out he was laid off after he was locked out of Slack and work emails around 1 a.m. on November 4.

In the week between Musk joining and Shevat being laid off, Shevat said he was assigned random tasks that lacked any context.

One day, Twitter told Shevat to "stack rank" his team from top to bottom. When he asked whether this was based on performance, impact, or seniority, the higher-ups told him they didn't know.

Before Musk became the owner of Twitter, Shevat said he knew what was expected of him to be a good leader for his team.

"The Twitter post-Elon was 'sit there and don't do anything' basically, and 'don't talk to your team, don't calm them down, don't do anything'," Shevat said.

According to Shevat, Twitter leaders gave managers such as himself no answers about whether they should continue with the work they were doing. He described the approach as "inhumane."

Twitter's lack of communication seeped through into its layoffs, Shevat said, with many employees not being given notice they were getting fired.

"There wasn't any consideration for people with disabilities, visas, maternity leave and sick leave," said Shevat, who recently created a list of hiring companies for former Twitter staff.

Since being laid off, Shevat said he has filed an arbitration claim against Musk for not following through with the promise of providing severance, which includes pay and benefits for two months. His attorney, Lisa Bloom, told Insider it seemed that Musk cared "very little" about the employees who built Twitter and for those who still work there.

Shevat said it was shocking that his team received no communication and were mostly all fired, despite coming into Musk's Twitter with "an open heart" and being eager to create new features for the platform.

"If this would have gone differently, Elon would have won a team that is deeply passionate, that deeply cares about Twitter and its platform," Shevat said.

Twitter didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

A SpaceX director defended Elon Musk after Twitter layoffs, telling employees to show some empathy for the billionaire, report says

Kate Duffy
Thu, December 15, 2022 


SpaceX CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk.Steve Nesius/Reuters

A SpaceX director told Twitter staff to show empathy for Elon Musk after mass layoffs, per Bloomberg.

Antonio Gracias also said in the meeting it was "hard" for Musk, the report said.

Staff have called Gracias and other people Musk has brought into Twitter as "goons," per the report.

A SpaceX director stood up for his boss Elon Musk in front of Twitter employees after the company carried out mass layoffs, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Antonio Gracias, who is also a director at Tesla, told Twitter staff to show some empathy for Musk after he laid off scores of workers, per Bloomberg, citing former employees and partners in its report.

"This is hard for him," Gracias said in the meeting, according to Bloomberg. It wasn't clear when Gracias said this, but layoffs at Twitter took place from early November through to Thanksgiving.

Gracias was among the individuals in Musk's inner circle to replace Twitter executives who were fired or resigned after the billionaire took over, per the report. The other people included David Sacks, former PayPal chief operating officer; Alex Spiro, Musk's lawyer; and Sriram Krishnan, partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Bloomberg reported.

Twitter employees have referred to these people as "the goons," per Bloomberg.

Bloomberg's report said the individuals haven't been allocated official roles at Twitter, but they have advised Musk on business matters and were added to the corporate directory.

One former employee told Bloomberg that Gracias banged the drum for Musk in a meeting with sales bosses, saying: "He's a winner. He wins everywhere."

Gracias, Twitter, and SpaceX didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours.

Gracias was one of the many employees which Musk has pulled from his other companies to work at Twitter. The New York Times reported Musk brought in more than six SpaceX lawyers to work on the platform, as well as 17 top executives from Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company, per CNBC.

It follows the loss of thousands of Twitter employees through firings, layoffs, and resignations since Musk bought the platform in late October. Entire departments at Twitter have barely — or any — staff remaining.

Elon Musk enlists more than 6 lawyers from SpaceX to bolster Twitter's depleted legal department, report says

Kate Duffy
Wed, December 14, 2022 

SpaceX CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk beside a Falcon 9 launch.

REUTERS/Mike Brown/Getty Images

Elon Musk has brought in more than six SpaceX lawyers to work at Twitter, the NYT reports.


Twitter's legal department is depleted after recent layoffs and resignations, per the NYT.


Musk has reportedly enlisted executives and engineers from his other ventures.

Elon Musk has enlisted more than six lawyers from his rocket company SpaceX to help fill the gaps in Twitter's workforce, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Twitter's legal department is depleted after the various layoffs and resignations that happened in recent months, according to The Times.

After Musk acquired the platform in late October, thousands of Twitter employees were laid off, fired, or resigned from their jobs. This has left entire departments at Twitter without many — or any — staff remaining.

More than six SpaceX lawyers were authorized to access Twitter's internal systems, per The Times, citing documents and two people familiar with the matter. The Times reported that Chris Cardaci, SpaceX's vice president of legal, and Tim Hughes, the senior vice president, global business and government affairs, were recruited to work at Twitter.

SpaceX, Twitter, and Cardaci didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Hughes couldn't be reached for comment.

The move comes as former employees have filed lawsuits against Twitter, accusing it of unfair practices.

The SpaceX lawyers aren't the only workers at a Musk-led company reportedly being brought into Twitter. The billionaire has enlisted cousins, interns, fans, and around 150 staff from his other ventures to work at Twitter, Insider's Kali Hays reported.

At least 17 top executives from Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company were authorized to work at Twitter, per CNBC. The publication also reported Musk brought more than 50 employees at Tesla over to Twitter who were expected to learn source code, data-privacy rules, and content moderation.