Topline
Twitter is in chaos as hundreds of employees leave to avoid Elon Musk’s demands that they work longer hours. This latest development in a series of chaotic actions comes amid growing concerns about Musk’s leadership and social media platform’s future.
Key facts
Many of Twitter’s last employees have reportedly resigned instead of agreeing to Musk’s ultimatum for long hours at high intensity. The deadline was 5 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The social media company abruptly informed employees that its offices would close on Monday. However, it didn’t give any reason.
According to reports, the departure was so large that there needs to be clarity about who should be allowed access. The Platformer’s Zoe Shiper stated that the closure is a tactic to resolve the problem and calm Musk and his team who are “terrified employees will sabotage” the company.
Multiple systems vital to the platform’s continued functioning have been expelled. The Washington Post reported, and the Verge both stated that multiple critical teams had “completely or almost completely resigned,” citing unnamed sources.
Twitter’s latest turmoil has prompted fear among users that the platform might soon go dark. Many have sent goodbye tweets to their loved ones and are trending with “RIPTwitter” and “Goodbye Twitter.”
Musk, the ever-troll, seemed unperturbed by the situation posting memes mocking the platform’s death and declaring that he is not “super worried” regarding the departures, as “the best people remain.”
What to Watch for
Musk claims he isn’t concerned about the number of departures. However, there are indications that they are much higher than anticipated. Twitter reportedly reversed its earlier demands that workers quit working remotely. The firm had previously asked workers they had fired to come back after the departure. Management was late, realizing that their expertise or work was required. Workers informed the Washington Post and the Verge that the platform would likely break down soon, with the people needing to fix the problems absent or overwhelmed.
What We Do Not Know
Twitter needs to find out how many people are still employed. It was home to more than 7,500 employees when Musk took over. He said this was a significant headcount and would be financially impossible. During the initial stages of his leadership, Musk fired all senior leaders and the entire Twitter board. He also laid off half the workforce. Since then, Musk has fired employees who disagree with him. Sometimes this was done publicly. Although estimates of the number of workers remain variable, figures typically range from 2,000 to 2,500. It is possible to get precise statistics from reports, as most of the human resource team has left.
Tangent
Musk tweeted that “record numbers” of Twitter users were logging in to “see if Twitter has died” without evidence. “Ironically, it’s more alive than ever.”
Forbes Valuation
$191.4 billion. According to Forbes’ real-time tracker, that’s Elon Musk’s estimated net wealth. Musk is well-known for his co-founding and leading electric vehicle maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX, and tunneling company Boring Company. In October, he bought Twitter for $44 Billion.
