The New York Times: Musk has already started firing Twitter employees

On Thursday (October 27), Elon Musk finally closed the deal and became the new owner of the social network Twitter. A few days later, on Saturday, layoffs began.

Here's What We Know

The New York Times writes about it, citing four people knowledgeable in the matter. The extent of the layoffs could not be ascertained. But Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, which invested the money to buy Twitter, heard that about 50% of the staff will be laid off. For reference, Twitter has about 7,500 employees.

Reports about layoffs appeared back in April, when Musk was only planning to buy the social network. Then he told investors that he would make Twitter private, reduce its staff, cancel the rules of content moderation and find new sources of income.

The layoffs at Twitter were supposed to take place before Nov. 1, when employees are supposed to receive stock grants as compensation. Such grants typically make up a significant portion of employees' salaries. By firing employees before that date, Musk could avoid paying the grants, although under the terms of the merger agreement, he must pay employees in cash instead of their stock.

Source: The New York Times

Go Deeper:

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