It has been far from a smooth leadership transition at Twitter, with new owner Elon Musk promptly firing thousands of staff, including key executives, and reports circulating that Twitter plans to shutter its Australian operations entirely. Adding fuel to the fire of speculation is recent news that Twitter no longer technically exists as a registered company—Musk has merged it with a shell firm called X Corp—sparking conjecture as to what he plans to do with the site. Musk is both president of the firm and its parent, X Holdings Corp.
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Barely a week after Musk took ownership of Twitter in October last year, he also announced plans to trim the 8,000-strong workforce by firing thousands of employees, suspending badge access to workers and shutting the office temporarily.
“In an effort to placeTwitteron a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce,” said the email, cited by Reuters.
Musk fired the company’s leadership team of chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde,as part of the $US44 billion close.
He has alsofired general counsel Sean Edgett.
Twitter contractor Melissa Ingle was one of many let go without notification
Laid off from Twitter on a Saturday evening. No explanation, just all access removed. Happy holidays, everyone!
— Melissa Ingle (@mingle74) November 13, 2022
“I love the platform and I really enjoyed working at the company and trying to make it better,” she wrote on Twitter.
“And I’m just really fearful of what’s going to slip through the cracks.”
In a rare interview given to the BBC on Wednesday, Musk confirmed the scale of the employee cuts: the company now employs just 1,500 staffers, down from some 8,000.
He defended the decision, telling the network: “The issue is like the company’s going to go bankrupt if we do not cut costs immediately,” he said.
“This is not a caring-uncaring situation. It’s like if the whole ship sinks then nobody’s got a job.”
In January, Twitter Australia’s boos, Angus Keene, was forced to hose down speculation that the company was pulling out of Australia entirely.
TheSydney Morning Herald had reportedthat Twitter was “in the process of ending its physical presence in Australia” by sacking the staff that survived previous culls. Many of Twitter Australia’s communications, marketing and news content teams have been laid off.
According to news industry site,Mumbrella, however, Keene sent an email to Australian agency staff reassuring them that Twitter was not pulling out of Australia. It is believed staff are working from home and the company has not renewed its commercial lease in Sydney.
This is in stark contrast to Musk’s reported distaste for remote working: has instructed US staff to return to the office, and said that free lunches—one of the many past perks of life as a Twitter employee—were off the table.
To all complainers, please continue complaining, but it will cost $8
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022
The tumultuous take-over comes on the back of a protracted on-again, off-again deal to buy Twitter. In early 2022, the Twitter Board recommended that shareholders approve Musk’s offer to buy Twitter, however, in May, Musk put his deal to acquire Twitter on hold, citing issues around the number of alleged spam accounts. At that time, he had asserted that Twitter needed to prove that fewer than 5% of active users were fake.
Twitter responded with legal action and Bret Taylor, Twitter’s chairman, previously said (in a tweet) that he was determined to complete the takeover on the original terms: “The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.”
Musk attempted to delay the trial until November, but a US judge ruled in September that the casewould go aheadin Delaware from October 17.
However, lawyers for Musk confirmed in a court filing on October 4 that Musk will proceed with the deal and he was willing to buy Twitter at the stated price of $54.20 a share. Musk de-listed the company and took it private.
The de-listing had huge implications for shareholders. Trading in the shares on the New York Stock Exchange were suspended, meaning no new purchases of the stock can be made.
Shareholders were paid $54.20 for each share they held up to the time of acquisition.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I still buy shares in Twitter?
No. Since Elon Musk bought the site late in 2022, the social media company has been taken private, and de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange. Shareholders were paid $54.20 for each share they held up to the time of company acquisition.
What is Elon charging $8 for?
Musk has proposed to charge users of Twitter $8 a month for their account to receive a blue check mark which indicates the person is a verified source. The check was usually reserved for accounts of journalists, actors or celebrities, who were likely to be impersonated. The Twitter Blue Service has already been mired in controversy, with BBC reports that the Taliban has started paying for ticks as part of the Twitter Blue service.
How many blue checks are there on Twitter?
There are now estimated to be some 400,000 blue checks on Twitter, including Musk himself.
Who left Twitter after Elon Musk took over?
A lot of people it would seem. There are some estimates from Bot Sentinel that more than 875,000 users deactivated their accounts between October 27 and November 1, while a number of celebrities, including musicians Sara Bareilles and singer Toni Braxton, have also left.
When did Musk take over Twitter?
Elon Musk assumed ownership of Twitter on October 27, whereby Musk promptly Tweeted that the “bird had been freed”.
