Elong awaited changes by new big Twit
Firings, fraudsters and planned ‘moderation council’
Elon Musk named himself CEO of Twitter on Friday, as he reportedly preps major changes at the social media site — including the lifting of lifetime user bans.
Musk — who completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter late Thursday after a bruising legal battle that grabbed headlines for six months — plans to remain CEO in the interim though he is likely to eventually step aside and hire a full-time replacement, according to Bloomberg News.
On Friday, Musk tweeted that “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” adding that “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
In one of his first moves as CEO, Musk jettisoned the company leadership upon taking control of the San Francisco-based site. He fired previous CEO Parag Agrawal, who will receive a payout of $38.7 million due to his shares vesting upon his termination.
Musk also canned the chief financial officer, Ned Segal, who walks away with a $25.4 million golden parachute. Vijaya Gadde, the chief legal officer, and Sarah Personette, the chief customer officer, were also let go.
Gadde will depart with $12.5 million while Personette will receive an $11.2 million payout.
Musk made a dramatic entrance to Twitter headquarters in San Francisco Wednesday. He posted video on Twitter showing him carrying a sink, a play on the popular internet meme “Let that sink in.”
A photograph posted by journalist Walter Isaacson, who is reportedly working on a biography of Musk, shows the new boss holding court with several Twitter employees at the company coffee bar on Thursday.
Reports indicated that Musk had planned to lay off as much as 75% of Twitter staffers, but the new CEO reportedly denied this when asked about it during his meeting with employees.
Musk insisted that Twitter “cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences,” and pledged to make the site “warm and welcoming to all.” He vowed that advertisers can count on the site to be one that “strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise.”
Meanwhile, a pair of pranksters posing as laid-off Twitter employees tricked media outlets Friday.
CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa interviewed two people who identified themselves as Twitter employees and were seen near the company’s San Francisco headquarters carrying cardboard boxes.
Skepticism immediately emerged on social media. One of the pranksters said his name was “Rahul Ligma” — a reference to another meme — and held a copy of Michelle Obama’s book “Becoming” aloft while speaking to reporters. The other said his name was “Daniel Johnson.”
“It’s happening,” Bosa tweeted. Entire team of data engineers let go. These are two of them.
“They are visibly shaken,” Bosa added. “Daniel tells us he owns a Tesla and doesn’t know how he’s going to make payments.”
ABC7 Bay Area reporter Suzanne Phan also tweeted about the alleged Twitter employees, writing that one claimed “he was terminated during a Zoom meeting.”
Bloomberg later reported Twitter’s internal slack channels “lit up with suspicion” that it was a hoax. The Verge confirmed the two were not actually ex-Twitter workers.
Paul Lee, a product manager at Twitter, was among those who called out CNBC over its report.
“Quite ironic that a major news outlet failed to do basic diligence and fell for a crisis actor prank, resulting in the spread of misinfo, on the first day of new ownership,” Lee tweeted. “All you had to do was ask to see a badge or look for bird-themed stuff in the boxes. Also we don’t use Zoom.”
Another user tweeted, “You got conned. Name is ‘Rahul LIGMA.’ C’mon man.”