Twitter employees leave company in droves ahead of Elon Musk takeover

AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File

As Elon Musk is set to finalize his Twitter purchase by the end of the week, and Twitter employees are leaving in droves before Musk takes over.

Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022

In 2022, several hundred employees left the company in response to Musk’s announced plans to acquire Twitter, with 530 leaving in the last three months. Many sought jobs with competitors such as Meta, and Google, Business Insider reports. 

According to The Washington Post, Musk discussed his plans for the company in recent months that involved potential mass layoffs which would see staff slashed by 75%, from 7,000 employees to 2,500. Although details of the potential layoffs remain speculative, such a move could result in a reduction of the censorship that the platform has been accused of. 

Prior to Musk’s purchase, Twitter’s current management indicated that it planned to cut payroll by around $800 million by 2023. 

In Tesla’s earnings call last week, Musk said he was “excited about the Twitter situation,” Fox News reported. 

“I think it’s an asset that has sort of languished for a long time but has incredible potential,” he added. “Although obviously myself and the other investors are obviously overpaying for it right now, the long-term potential for Twitter in my view is an order of magnitude greater than its current value.”

Musk recently reiterated his intentions with Twitter in a Twitter post, writing, “Twitter should be as broadly inclusive as possible, serving as a fair forum for lively, even if occasionally rancorous, debate between widely divergent beliefs.”

Twitter should be as broadly inclusive as possible, serving as a fair forum for lively, even if occasionally rancorous, debate between widely divergent beliefs.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 25, 2022