Elon Musk said to lay off workers across Twitter

Firings could take place before November 1, when employees of the social media company are set to receive stock grants

Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California. After more than six months of controversy, Elon Musk is now at the head of one of the most influential social networks. AFP

Elon Musk plans to lay off staff at Twitter, with some managers at the social media company being asked to draft lists of employees to fire, the New York Times and Washington Post reported, quoting sources.

Mr Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on Thursday after months of deliberations during which the billionaire questioned the number of users on the platform but finally gave in as a drawn-out litigation process neared.

Mr Musk, who is the world's richest man and has 110 million Twitter followers, ordered cuts across company, which has about 7,500 staff, the newspapers said, citing unnamed sources.

The firings are likely to take place before November 1, when employees are set to receive stocks grants as part of their compensation, the Times and Post said.

Firing staff before November 1 could assist Mr Musk in avoiding paying the grants to staff, which usually account for a large portion of an employee's pay, they said.

However, under the terms of the acquisition agreement of the company, Twitter employees are supposed to receive cash payments in lieu of their stock grants.

One of the first departments to be affected is likely to be legal, trust, and safety, which sets policy and oversees content moderation, while the team overseeing information security and privacy is also drawing up a list of people to fire, the Post said.

About 50 per cent of Twitter's workforce is likely to be cut, the Post reported, quoting a source.

Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and finance chief Ned Segal left the company and will not be returning, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing sources. Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal policy, trust and safety, was reportedly fired, the Post reported.

The three top executives of Twitter stand to receive separation payouts totalling some $122 million, Reuters reported, citing research company Equilar.

After months of negotiations, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk finally purchased Twitter on October 27. AFP

The billionaire took control of microblogging platform and fired its top executives, including chief executive Parag Agrawal, left, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety. AFP

Elon Musk entering Twitter headquarters carrying a sink through the lobby area on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Musk posted a video Wednesday showing him strolling into Twitter headquarters ahead of a Friday deadline to close his $44 billion deal to buy the company. AP

Mr Musk and his children Damian, Kai, Saxon and Griffin met Pope Francis in July at the Vatican. AFP

Mr Musk speaks by video in June to the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. Bloomberg

Mr Musk answers questions at the Qatar Economic Forum. Bloomberg

Mr Musk arrives at the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in May. Reuters

Mr Musk and his mother Maye Musk arrive at the Met Gala in May. AFP

Mother and son pose and laugh on the Met Gala red carpet. EPA

Mr Musk waves at the Met Gala. Reuters

Mr Musk joins in online at the 'Financial Times' Future of the Car Summit in May. Financial Times

Mr Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, in March. Reuters

Mr Musk at the Tesla factory in Berlin, Germany, in March. AP

Mr Musk speaks at SpaceX's Starbase centre in South Texas in February. AFP

The entrepreneur shakes hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Porto Feliz, Brazil, in May. AP

Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Musk greet each other in Sao Paulo. Reuters

Indonesian President Joko Widodo meets Mr Musk at the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, in May. Reuters

Mr Musk shows Mr Widodo his mobile phone during a tour of the SpaceX launch site in Texas. Reuters

Mr Musk has accused the executives of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake accounts on the platform.

He plans to be chief executive at Twitter and intends to lift permanent bans on users because he does not believe in lifelong prohibitions, Bloomberg reported, quoting a source.

That could pave the way for the return of former US president Donald Trump to the social media platform.

“To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter's content moderation policies,” Mr Musk said in a post on Twitter.

Twitter will be forming a content moderation council “with widely diverse viewpoints”, he said.

“No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

Mr Musk and Twitter were given until Friday by a US judge to finalise the deal, which has dragged on since April when the Tesla chief executive offered to buy it at $54.20 a share.

He tried to walk away from the deal in May after accusing the social media company of understating the number of bot and fake accounts on the platform, which Twitter denied and led to a series of lawsuits between the two parties.

The deal was completed before an October 28 deadline set by a US judge, which if missed would have opened the way for a trial.