Elon Musk 'threatens to fire 75% of Twitter staff' after $44 billion takeover
25 October 2022, 16:52 | Updated: 25 October 2022, 16:56
Elon Musk has been accused of 'reckless' intimidation over claims he plans to fire up to three-quarters of Twitter's workforce.
The mogul is believed to be planning a dramatic downsizing of the company, according to leaked conversations with prospective funders.
His $44 billion takeover must be completed by Friday or face the resumption of a lawsuit over his previous abandonment of the deal.
Previously Musk has talked about how he thinks the company is "bloated" and that the firm's 7,500 workforce has an issue with "left-wing bias".
Now, internal documents leaked to the Washington Post suggest he is planning to whittle down the company to just 2,000 employees.
In an open letter to Musk, circulated on Monday, staff at Twitter's Silicon Valley headquarters called for the billionaire to "cease these negligent layoff threats".
"Elon Musk's plan to lay off 75% of Twitter workers will hurt Twitter's ability to serve the public conversation," the letter reads.
"A threat of this magnitude is reckless, undermines our users' and customers' trust in our platform, and is a transparent act of worker intimidation."
Staffers demanded that Musk preserves Twitter's headcount if the deal does go ahead, and that the libertarian does not discriminate against employees based on their political views.
Their letter says employees "will not be intimidated" and urges the Tesla CEO to commit to transparency over future working conditions and "fair" severance policies if he does take over.
"A threat to workers at Twitter is a threat to Twitter’s future. These threats have an impact on us as workers and demonstrate a fundamental disconnect with the realities of operating Twitter," staffers write.
READ MORE: Elon Musk agrees $44 billion takeover deal of Twitter despite previous u-turn
"They threaten our livelihoods, access to essential healthcare, and the ability for visa holders to stay in the country they work in. We cannot do our work in an environment of constant harassment and threats."
The letter goes on to say: "We demand to be treated with dignity, and to not be treated as mere pawns in a game played by billionaires."
However, Twitter executives have denied plans of mass layoffs, with General Counsel Sean Edgett telling staff to expect "tonnes of public rumours and speculations" on the eve of Musk's expected takeover.
In April Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $54.20 per outstanding share, but said he wanted to terminate the deal just two weeks later over concerns the site was overrun with bots and other security concerns.
This prompted Twitter to sue the Space X founder to continue the deal, and after a bitter legal dispute, a judge in Delaware gave both sides a deadline of Friday.
