San Francisco: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, during discussions with banks, has reportedly planned to cut jobs at Twitter to improve its bottom line once he takes over. The Washington Post reported that Musk discussed making "efficiencies" at the micro-blogging platform in the conversations with bankers, "which could include job cuts." Twitter or its CEO Parag Agrawal have not commented on the reports. Agrawal had told employees that there would be "no layoffs at this time".
However, according to reports, one area where Musk may make job cuts is the company's policy department. Musk's displeasure was reflected in his criticism of Twitter's policy head Vijaya Gadde this week, over censoring exclusive stories related to US President Joe Biden's son Hunter's laptop in the wake of the Capitol Hill violence. Meanwhile, Agrawal has said that "despite the noise" coming from Musk after his successful $44 billion takeover of the company, he and the entire team will continue to do the job to change Twitter for the better.
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"I took this job to change Twitter for the better, course-correct where we need to, and strengthen the service. Proud of our people who continue to do the work with focus and urgency despite the noise," he posted in a tweet on Thursday. In a leaked audio clip where Agrawal can be heard talking to employees post the acquisition, he said that Musk will soon address their concerns. "Once the deal closes, different decisions might be made. For us to gain insight into that, we'll be finding a way to have Elon talk with all of you at the soonest possible opportunity," he was quoted as saying.
The Tesla CEO has sold around 4.4 million shares of the company worth around $4 billion, as he prepares to take over Twitter for nearly $44 billion. The money could possibly go towards acquiring the micro-blogging platform, as Musk has to shell out $21 billion in his own personal capacity. As part of the deal, Morgan Stanley and other financial institutions have committed to providing $13 billion in financing, along with $12.5 billion in margin loans to Musk, against his shares in Tesla and other companies.
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Musk is expected to provide equity financing of approximately $21 billion on his own. The value of the latest Tesla stock sales by Musk, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is around $4 billion. Musk tweeted: "No further TSLA (Tesla) sales planned after today". With Musk acquiring Twitter, the stock of his electric car company tanked, and at least $125 billion were wiped out from its market value over some obvious risks.
Tesla shares sank 12.2 per cent after the Twitter acquisition news broke. The world's richest man has a net worth of $257 billion but two-thirds of his wealth is in Tesla stock. "If Musk does offload some of those holdings, it could drive Tesla's share price down further," according to reports. The company warned investors about the same in its latest annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. "If Elon Musk were forced to sell shares of our common stock that he has pledged to secure certain personal loan obligations, such shares could cause our stock price to decline," the company said.
Read: Twitter confirms sale of company to Elon Musk for USD 44 billion
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