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☆ Elon Musk can be 'vicious' in the workplace, a former SpaceX VP says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Grace Dean | Kiera Fields | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former SpaceX VP says Elon Musk can be "vicious" in the workplace. Jim Cantrell told Insider staff never knew whether there were getting "good Elon" or "bad Elon." He added Musk could change Twitter's business performance "from sheer force of willpower." Musk added Twitter to his portfolio in late October, acquiring the social-media platform for $44 billion. One workplace-culture expert previously told Insider that Musk's "autocratic leadership" would be in "great contrast with the type of openness and flexible mindset that is integral to Twitter's culture."

Elon Musk is shaking up Twitter. From the blunt email to Twitter employees about layoffs to angry advertisers, a lot is happening. Insider has exclusive insights from employees, advertisers and others about working with Musk. And this kind of chaos is only the beginning, warns one former SpaceX VP who says Elon Musk can be 'vicious' in the workplace. Rebecca Blackwell/AP PhotoAdvertisers are nervously pausing their spendMusk has been wooing advertisers, his major Twitter customers, but they are wary.

☆ Factbox: Twitter 2.0: Musk warns of bankruptcy, flip-flops on blue check mark in chaotic start
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoNov 18 (Reuters) - Twitter has had a bumpy ride since new owner Elon Musk took charge last month. Twitter has also cut staff by half, while Musk has raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt. read more read more* ROLLS OUT $8 SERVICETwitter on Nov. 5 launches an $8 subscription service that gives the user a verified blue check mark and other features. read more* WARNS OF BANKRUPTCYOn his first mass call with employees, Musk raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt, Bloomberg News reported. read more* RELAUNCH $8 SERVICE ON NOV. 29On Nov. 15, Musk said the sought-after blue check subscription service will be relaunched on Nov. 29, a minor delay from his initial tentative timeline.

☆ Fact Check-Video does not show Elon Musk firing Twitter exec on live radio show
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A widely shared video appears to capture Elon Musk firing former legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde during a live radio show. One post reads, in part, “Elon Musk fires Twitter's Chief Legal Officer and Policy Chief Vijaya Gadde ON AIR!” (here). Reuters reported on Friday that Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter (here). Reuters was unable to identify the exact origin of the following phrase attributed to Musk in the parody video: "Failure comes with a big penalty, you're fired." Elon Musk did not fire a Twitter executive during a live radio show.

☆ Elon Musk told Twitter advertisers he wants different tiers of content moderation similar to movie age ratings, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk told Twitter advertisers he plans to offer different tiers of content moderation, per the FT.Brands have cited concerns that Musk will bring Trump back onto Twitter or change its content-moderation policies. The levels of moderation would be similar to movie age ratings, the FT reported. The day after his $44 billion purchase of Twitter went through, Musk tweeted that he would create a "content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints." Musk, a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist," has lambasted some of Twitter's moderation policies in the past. "TrumpIsDead" trended on Twitter on Tuesday in what appeared to be a test of Musk's moderation systems.

☆ From ex-CEO Parag Agrawal to Vijaya Gadde, here are the top Twitter executives who have been fired or left the company since Elon Musk's takeover
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Musk is overhauling TwitterElon Musk. Michael Gonzalez/Getty ImagesTesla CEO Elon Musk, the world's richest man, sealed the deal and acquired Twitter for $44 billion on October 27 after months of costly litigation. Following his takeover, one of his first moves was to fire four top executives. Musk had already put in motion wide-ranging plans for Twitter, including charging users for verification, bringing back video-sharing app Vine, and laying off staff, as he plans to overhaul the company. Here are all the executives and top managers who have either been fired or left the social media company following Musk's takeover.

Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand announced on Tuesday in a LinkedIn post that she had resigned last week as well. General manager for core technologies Nick Caldwell confirmed his departure on Twitter, changing his profile bio to "former Twitter exec" by Monday night. Multiple employees who spoke with Reuters said they continue to receive little communication about the future of the company. An all-staff meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday was canceled, following the cancellation by Twitter of a check-in call last week. Use of the n-word has increased by nearly 500% on Twitter, said the Network Contagion Research Institute, which identifies "cyber-social threats."

☆ Twitter’s C-suite clears out as Musk cements power over the company
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

In less than a week since Musk acquired Twitter, the company’s C-suite appears to have almost entirely cleared out, through a mix of firings and resignations. Musk has also dissolved Twitter’s former board of directors. At the same time, Musk is also running several other companies, including as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. Musk immediately fired four of Twitter’s top executives — CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, General Counsel Sean Edgett and Policy Head Vijaya Gadde. It’s unclear whether VP of Operations Lindsey Iannucci, the other two members of Twitter’s top leadership team, will remain with the company.

☆ Twitter locks out 'hundreds' of content-moderation workers. Now only about 15 people have keys to the system ahead of potential midterm disinformation, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Only around 15 Twitter employees have access to content moderation tools, Bloomberg reported. But workers told Bloomberg it could cause misinformation to surge ahead of the midterm elections. Meanwhile, on Friday, Musk said that Twitter would form a new content moderation council. But, several workers responsible for moderating content on the site expressed concern as to how Twitter would address misinformation related to the upcoming midterm elections with substantially fewer workers, Bloomberg reported. Musk has repeatedly criticized Twitter's moderation efforts and indicated he would remove bans on several users.

☆ One of Twitter's top execs quit the day after tweeting that she had a 'great discussion' with Elon Musk about the company's future
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter's CCO said she quit her job just hours after Elon Musk completed his $44 billion takeover. On Thursday, Personette tweeted that she'd had a "great discussion" with Musk. "Remember that we create the organization we want to be a part of," Personette tweeted. Personette tweeted on Thursday, just hours before the deal went through, that she'd had a "great discussion" with Musk the prior evening. Personette resigned the day after posting the tweet.

☆ Twitter to lay off 25% of workforce in first round of job cuts - Washington Post
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Celebrity lawyer Alex Spiro, a long-time Musk legal representative, led the conversations about the job cuts, according to the report. Twitter had over 7,000 employees at the end of 2021, according to a regulatory filing and a quarter of the headcount amounts to nearly 2,000 employees. Musk denied a New York Times report about laying off Twitter employees at a date earlier than Nov. 1 to avoid stock grants due on the day. Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Finance Chief Ned Segal and Legal Affairs and Policy Chief Vijaya Gadde on completion of a six-month $44 billion buyout saga of the social media platform on Thursday, sources told Reuters. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk denied reports that he's speeding up Twitter layoffs to avoid paying out hefty stock grants to workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said reports he's speeding up layoffs to avoid paying out stock grants are false. Musk is set to lay off workers before Tuesday, when they're scheduled to receive stock grants, per the NYT. Media reports suggest that Musk may also avoid giving fired execs their expected multi-million-dollar payouts. The Times reported that Musk could therefore avoid paying the grants. The Information reported that the "for cause" terminations were an attempt to avoid paying out severance pay and unvested stock awards.

☆ Elon Musk spent the weekend creating plans with his inner circle to lay off 25% of Twitter's staff, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk plans to lay off around a quarter of Twitter's staff, The Washington Post reported. His team, led by Alex Spiro, and remaining Twitter senior execs spent the weekend crafting plans, per The Post. Musk's team also assigned some of Twitter's engineers projects to work on over the weekend. Insider reported that there was a sense among workers that some of their recent tasks were a test by Musk's team to see who works hard. A person familiar with the deal told The Post that Musk is more likely to lay off around half of Twitter's staff.

☆ Elon Musk has dissolved Twitter's 9-person board of directors and become its sole director
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has scrapped Twitter's board of directors. Musk had himself tried to join Twitter's board in the spring before clashing with then-CEO Parag Agrawal. When first outlining his plans for his ownership of Twitter, Musk said he would need to take the company private to make his desired changes. The same evening, Musk also ousted CFO Ned Segal, chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett, sources told Insider. Musk had himself been set to join Twitter's board before he offered to buy the company, but u-turned after clashing with Agrawal over text.

☆ Musk denies reports he is firing Twitter employees in attempt to avoid payouts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

In a response to a Twitter user asking about the layoffs, Musk tweeted: "This is false." Citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, the Times reported the cuts could begin as soon as Saturday. According to media reports on Saturday, Musk fired top executives in an effort to avoid hefty severance payouts, while lining up other layoffs as soon as Saturday. In a tweet on Saturday LightShed analyst Rich Greenfield said Musk fired top Twitter execs "for cause," preventing their unvested stock from vesting as part of a change of control. Reuters wasn't immediately able to contact the fired executives.

☆ Musk fired Twitter execs in attempt to avoid payouts, layoffs planned - reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Twitter's (TWTR.N) new owner Elon Musk fired top executives in an effort to avoid hefty severance payouts, while lining up other layoffs as soon as Saturday to avoid stock grants due on Nov. 1, according to media reports on Saturday. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform. In a tweet on Saturday LightShed analyst Rich Greenfield said Musk fired top Twitter execs "for cause," preventing their unvested stock from vesting as part of a change of control. Reuters wasn't immediately able to make contact with the fired executives. Citing unidentified people familiar with the matter, the Times reported the cuts could begin as soon as Saturday.

☆ Elon Musk says he has 'no idea who the CEO' of Twitter is after being sent an auto-email telling him 'it's time to start managing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

He was sent an email from the company telling him to start a "managing @Twitter 101" training course. Musk tweeted that he has idea who the CEO is yet, despite calling himself "Chief Twit." Elon Musk was sent an email from Twitter telling him "it's time to start managing @Twitter 101," in reference to a training course about "what it means to be a good manager at Twitter." Musk tweeted on Sunday: "Just received this email from Twitter. Musk responded: "My title is Chief Twit right there in the bio.

☆ Under Elon Musk's leadership, Twitter could become a 'supercharged engine of radicalization,' critics warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk completed his long-awaited Twitter acquisition on Thursday, immediately firing executives. Critics fear the Tesla CEO, a self-styled free speech absolutist, will usher in more hate speech. Media Matters president Angelo Carusone said Musk will use Twitter "to advance his own red-pilled ideological agenda." "Simply put: Twitter is now on a glide path to becoming a supercharged engine of radicalization," Carusone of Media Matters' statement added. "Under Musk's leadership, Twitter will become a fever swamp of dangerous conspiracy theories, partisan chicanery, and operationalized harassment."

☆ As Elon Musk finalized his Twitter deal, company founder Jack Dorsey launched a beta for his new social media company
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Jack Dorsey's decentralized social media platform, Bluesky Social, is accepting beta users. The news coincides with Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, which Dorsey founded and ran for several years. Dorsey left Twitter in 2021 and named Parag Agrawal as his successor, whom Musk fired shortly after taking over this week. Dorsey's blockchain-based Bluesky Social announced last Tuesday that it's launching soon and is currently enlisting users for beta testing. Dorsey had said in 2019 that Twitter was funding work into developing "an open and decentralized standard for social media."

☆ Elon Musk fired Twitter execs including CEO Parag Agrawal 'for cause' in a bid to avoid paying out tens of millions in severance, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk fired top Twitter execs "for cause" to avoid severance payments, The Information reported. He fired CEO Parag Agrawal and three other executives on Thursday as he completed his takeover. The execs are in line to receive up to $122 million in payouts, researchers Equilar told Reuters. Musk removed Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, legal chief Vijaya Gadde, and general counsel Sean Edgett on Thursday after closing his $44 billion deal. His relationship with Agrawal in particular quickly soured, with the pair trading blows on Twitter and over text messages.

☆ Elon Musk manages free speech versus 'hellscape' at Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The pressure is mounting on Musk and Twitter as he is set to address the Twitter staff on Friday after closing the deal. Fewer than 10% of 266 Twitter employees who participated in a poll on messaging app Blind expected to still have their jobs in three months. Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, according to people familiar with the matter. Twitter, Musk and the executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. As news of the deal spread, some Twitter users were quick to flag their willingness to walk away.

☆ Elon Musk Closes Twitter Deal, Immediately Fires Top Executives
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Lauren Thomas | Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elon Musk fired several Twitter Inc. executives after completing his takeover of the company, according to people familiar with the matter, capping an unusual corporate battle and setting up one of the world’s most influential social-media platforms for potentially broad change. Mr. Musk fired Chief Executive Parag Agrawal and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal after the deal closed, the people said. Mr. Musk also fired Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s top legal and policy executive, and Sean Edgett, general counsel. Spokespeople for Twitter didn’t comment.

☆ Elon Musk Twitter Deal Completed, CEO and CFO Immediately Fired
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Lauren Thomas | Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ What people are saying about Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. billionaire Elon Musk became Twitter Inc's (TWTR.N) owner on Thursday, firing top executives and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform. BIZ STONE, CO-FOUNDER, TWITTER:"Thank you to @paraga, @vijaya and @nedsegal for the collective contribution to Twitter. Massive talents, all, and beautiful humans each!," Stone said in a Tweet, referring to sacked Twitter executives Parag Agrawal, Vijaya Gadde and Ned Segal. CHANGPENG ZHAO, FOUNDER, CEO, BINANCE, CO-INVESTOR IN MUSK'S TWITTER DEAL"We're excited to be able to help Elon realize a new vision for Twitter. We aim to play a role in bringing social media and Web3 together in order to broaden the use and adoption of crypto and blockchain technology."

[Editor's note: After CNBC published details of an interview with people who claimed to be fired employees of Twitter, several reports emerged suggesting it was a hoax. On Elon Musk's first day in control of Twitter , a person who walked out of the company's San Francisco headquarters and identified themselves as a data engineer there said they were just laid off. One employee at Twitter, awaiting information about layoffs or projects, told CNBC they were in the dark for the most part. Twitter has denied that and went to court to try to get Musk to complete the deal. The judge gave Musk until Friday at 5 p.m. to close the deal, or else set a new trial date.

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