Elon Musk Plans to Cut 75% of Twitter Employees: Report

SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitter’s employees if he becomes the owner of the social media company, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

According to the report, Musk told prospective investors that he plans to cut nearly 75% of Twitter’s 7,500 employees and leave the company with a bare minimum crew. Told. The paper cited the documents and an anonymous source familiar with the deliberations.

A representative for San Francisco-based Twitter and Musk’s attorney Alex Spiro did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Job cuts were expected regardless of the sale, but the scale of Musk’s planned cuts is far more extreme than what Twitter had planned. It hinted at the need to reduce the number of employees, but didn’t specify a specific number – at least not publicly.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said: “The 75% job cuts, at least initially, point to stronger free cash flow and profitability, which is attractive to investors looking to participate in the deal. ‘ said. “That said, it cannot pave the way for growth.”

Ives added that such a drastic reduction in Twitter’s workforce would likely set the company back for years.

Already, experts, nonprofits, and even Twitter staff have warned that reducing investments in content moderation and data security could hurt Twitter and its users. With the drastic cutbacks Musk is planning, the platform could quickly become overwhelmed with harmful content and spam.

After initially acquiring Twitter for $44 billion in April, Musk backed the deal, claiming Twitter misrepresented the number of fake “spambot” accounts on its platform. A Delaware judge gave both sides until October 28 to work out the details. Otherwise, there will be a trial in November.