Elon Musk wants to lay off three-quarters of Twitter employees

Major cleaning in perspective. Elon Musk plans to lay off nearly 75% of Twitter’s 7,500 employees if he succeeds in buying the social network, according to reports published Thursday. talk The Washington Post. The boss of Tesla and SpaceX has told potential investors he wants to cut the company to about 2,000 employees, according to a US newspaper.

A multi-billionaire pioneer About buying a social network 44 billion dollars, after economic and legal developments. But so is Elon Musk Can’t buy TwitterThe site plans to lay off nearly a quarter of its employees by the end of 2023 anyway. The Washington Post. Twitter did not immediately respond to AFP’s request.

The target is one billion users

The queer leader was given a takeover offer by the group’s board of directors at the end of April, and has since confirmed that his priority is protecting freedom of expression, not profit. He sought to unilaterally withdraw from the contract, alleging that the company lied to him about automated accounts and its fight against spam.

Twitter filed a complaint in early July, and Elon Musk finally confirmed earlier this month that the transaction was going to happen. Postponing the hearing scheduled for this week, the judge gave the two parties till October 28 to reach a new agreement.

In mid-June, during a question-and-answer session with employees of the San Francisco company, the entrepreneur insisted that he was aiming to reach one billion users instead of 230 million.

Relaxed calmness

Elon Musk recalls the importance of less strict moderation within the limits defined by law in his view. Its design is at odds with many Twitter employees, unions and elected Democrats, who have instead called on the social network to better fight hate speech, harassment and misinformation.

His talk revealed the extent of the chasm that separates his vision of a company from that of Silicon Valley workers who have succeeded through teleworking.

Elon Musk has said that Tesla employees must work at least 40 hours a week face-to-face or face losing their jobs.

Faced with Twitter’s staff, he explained that he wanted to weigh in on strategic directions and product development. He did not specify whether he intended to lay off employees, but took performance into account.