Elon Musk plans to slash Twitter staff by 75% after acquisition: Report
Roughly 5,500 people could face potential layoffs as the two are expected to close the $44 billion purchase by next Friday.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A big potential blow for thousands working at Twitter. On Thursday, the Washington Post released details about Elon Musk's alleged plans to slash staffing across the company by 75%.
The social media company is headquartered in San Francisco.
For those who have followed the months-long saga surrounding Twitter and Musk, reports detail the two expect to close Musk's $44 billion purchase by next Friday.
"He has everything upside down," San Jose State University professor and tech expert Ahmed Banafa told ABC7 News. "He has everything upside down, and this is his style."
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If true, and only after Musk's deal to buy Twitter goes through, roughly 5,500 people could face potential layoffs.
"You're waking up as a Twitter employee and being told that you may not have a job once this deal closes. This is devastating," Mark Molumphy, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy said. The firm filed a shareholder lawsuit against Musk earlier this year.
Molumphy explained that by taking the company private, Musk and whatever board will be in place, will have the ability to direct the company's operations as they see fit.
Until then, Molumphy said current Twitter employees have a few things to consider.
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"Whether they're entitled to stock," he said. "For example, whether the effect of this type of decision and the timing of it is meant to somehow reduce the amount of stock or stock options that they'd otherwise be entitled to under the merger."
"Those are just some of the things that I'd be looking at if I was a Twitter employee," Molumphy shared.
The Washington Post said the move would bring Twitter's entire workforce down to about 2,000 people.
"You need the human factor to do so many things that algorithms and AI cannot do it," Banafa pointed out.
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He said taking humans out of the equation will no doubt impact operations. The platform would be without institutional knowledge to moderate content and protect security.
"He might know how to make a car," Banafa told ABC7 News. "But to run a media company like this, with all the factors around it - worried about the offensive comments, offensive content, worried about the spam that's gonna happen, the hacking that's gonna happen - that's a different story."
The news of potentially slashing a majority of Twitter staff is just the latest in an ongoing saga surrounding Musk and the company.
"The problem with the employees, that, if these reports are true are about to be let go," Molumphy referenced. "He's dealing with people's lives. With shareholders, he's dealing with people's life savings. It becomes a bit cruel after a while."
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