Bloomberg: Billionaire Elon Musk plans to cut Twitter in half

Musk’s move is aimed at reducing costs after the $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

According to Bloomberg, Twitter’s new owner intends to notify affected employees on November 4.

Sources also say Mr Musk intends to reverse the company’s existing telework policy, which requires retained employees to come to the office, although some exceptions may be made.

Billionaire Musk and a team of advisers considered a range of scenarios for job cuts and other policy changes at Twitter. However, the sources also note that the terms of the layoffs are still subject to change.

In one scenario under consideration, employees who are laid off will receive severance pay within 60 days.

A Twitter spokesperson did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.

The Tesla founder is under pressure to cut costs after a sale that he himself considers overpaid.

The billionaire agreed to pay $54.20 per share in April 2022, just as the stock market began to plunge. He then tried for months to get out of the transaction, alleging that Twitter misled him about the number of fake accounts.

Twitter sued to force Mr. Musk to make good on his deal. In recent weeks, Mr. Musk has made concessions, agreeing to close the deal on agreed terms.

This purchase and sale agreement was completed on November 3.

Twitter employees have had to prepare for layoffs since Musk took over and fired senior leadership, including chief executive Parag Agrawal.

Several sources familiar with the matter said the positions of director and vice president were cut last weekend. Other leaders have been asked to make lists of employees on their teams that could be cut.

This week, a source familiar with the matter also told Bloomberg that senior staff on Twitter’s product team have been asked to set a goal of reducing headcount by 50%.