After a spree of layoffs, policy overhauls and controversial changes in the platform, billionaire Elon Musk said on Wednesday that he will “reduce his time at Twitter and eventually find a new leader” to run the social media behemoth.
“There’s an initial burst of activity needed post-acquisition to reorganise the company,” Musk was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters. “But then I expect to reduce my time at Twitter,” he added. Musk also admitted that some Tesla engineers were assisting in evaluating Twitter’s engineering teams, but he said it was on a “voluntary basis” and “after hours”.
Elon Musk made these remarks while testifying in a Delaware court to defend against claims that his $56 billion pay package at Tesla Inc was based on easy-to-achieve performance targets and was approved by a compliant board of directors.
Musk hopes to ‘complete organisational restructuring soon’
Elon Musk – whose first two weeks as the Twitter owner were marked by rapid change and chaos – said on Wednesday that he was hoping to complete an organisational restructuring soon, Reuters reported. Soon after the takeover, Elon Musk fired the company’s previous chief executive and other senior leaders. Twitter also cut close to 3,700 people this month via email as a way to trim costs post-acquisition, which closed in late October. “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day,” Musk tweeted on November 5 addressing the lay-offs.
Musk sent an email to Twitter employees early Wednesday, telling them they needed to decide by Thursday whether they wanted to stay on at the company to work “long hours at high intensity” or take a severance package of three months of pay.
Meanwhile, as a social media platform, Twitter has already launched and rolled back several features within days, including the $8 verified account via Twitter Blue, the second ‘Official’ verification label and much more. It’s being debated that Musk’s acquisition may plunge the social network into deeper troubles.
(With inputs from news agencies)