‘Chief Twit’ Elon Musk refutes reports about sacking Twitter staff to avoid payouts
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has denied a New York Times report about laying off Twitter employees before November 1 to avoid stock grants due on that day, according to Reuters.
Musk responded to a Twitter user who inquired about the layoffs, saying, "This is false."
This is fake – I did not tweet out a link to The New York Times! pic.twitter.com/d6V6m5ATW2
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 31, 2022
According to the New York Times (NYT), Musk has ordered job cuts across the company, with some teams being trimmed more than others, and that layoffs would take place before November 1, when employees were scheduled to receive stock grants as part of their compensation. The Times reported that the layoffs could begin as soon as Saturday, citing sources close to the situation.
Musk fired top executives in an effort to avoid large severance payments, and other layoffs could begin as soon as Saturday. Following the completion of a high-profile $44 billion buyout of the social media platform on Thursday, he fired Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, and Legal Affairs and Policy Chief Vijaya Gadde.