Elon Musk to retrench 75% of Twitter’s employees

Twitter might have just been sold off to Elon Musk for reason that 75% (7 500) of its workforce needed to be shaved.

Musk, SpaceX owner and CEO of electric-vehicle maker Tesla, plans to do just this – should the deal to purchase the company go ahead as planned.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk pulls the plug on $44 billion deal to buy Twitter

According to the Washington Post, the company’s payroll needs to be cut down by about $800 million by the end of next year. This equates to around three-quarters of the number of employees at the company.

The publication said that the company’s potential financial woes probably explained why they were so eager to sell to Musk in the $44 billion bid.

Twitter deal to be closed by Friday

Although Musk decided against his initial decision to buy Twitter, he eventually changed his mind again and went through with the acquisition. The deal is expected to be closed by the end of Friday (21 October 2022).

In April this year, Musk offered to purchase Twitter for $43 billion, after previously acquiring 9.1% of the company’s stock for $2.64 billion and becoming its largest shareholder.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk has lost more money in 2022 than Zimbabwe, Botswana make in a year

Initially resistant, Twitter’s board of directors accepted Musk’s buyout offer. Musk stated that he planned to introduce new features to the platform in terms of its algorithms and spambot accounts. Musk also wants to promote freedom of speech on the platform.

At the time, the acquisition went through, Twitter’s then CEO, Parag Agrawal, assured employees that no layoffs were planned. He confirmed that Twitter was to become a private company once the transaction was completed.

More to follow.