Twitter is planning to cut a quarter of its workforce as part of what is expected to be a first round of layoffs, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
The social media company, which was acquired last week by billionaire Elon Musk, had over 7,000 employees at the end of 2021. A quarter of the headcount amounts to nearly 2,000 employees.
Musk fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, Finance Chief Ned Segal and Legal Affairs and Policy Chief Vijaya Gadde only hours after finalizing the company’s purchasing on Thursday. The $44 billion buyout was signed after six months of uncertainty and legal feuds.
Lawyer Alex Spiro, a long-time Musk legal representative, led the conversations about the job cuts, according to people familiar with the matter.
Last week, Musk denied reports about laying off Twitter employees after visiting the social media company San Francisco headquarters.
The world’s richest man started his tenure as Twitter head making the headlines. On Sunday, Musk tweeted a link about the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, based on a conspiracy theory.
He later deleted the tweet, but not before racking up more than 28,000 retweets.
Musk’s post comes amid concerns about how he will run Twitter and if misinformation will be given a bigger platform on the site.
One day before acquiring Twitter Musk said the social platform won’t become a “free-for-all hellscape”
