CEO Parag Agrawal held a nationwide town hall on Friday, which was heard by Reuters, where executives wondered if their jobs would be safe when the Tesla businessman took control. Reports of concern within the Silicon Valley company have grown since Musk reached an agreement to repurchase the company on Monday. The richest man in the world agreed to buy Twitter for $ 44 billion – $ 54.20 in cash per share – making the company private in a shock deal that splits views around the world. Hundreds of thousands of users have already left the platform in protest, raising questions about whether Mr Musk will allow banned people – such as Donald Trump – to return to the internet. Musk fueled speculation that the banned accounts could be returned to his statement after the announcement of the deal. “Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital square of the city where issues of vital importance to the future of humanity are being discussed,” he said. Since then, a Wall Street Journal report has revealed that a close associate of Musk has already told far-right activist Charles Johnson that he could take back his account when Tesla’s boss takes over. Johnson was banned from Twitter in 2015 after raising money on the site to “prosecute” a Black Lives Matter activist. When asked when he could expect to return to Twitter, he was reportedly told: “Hopefully soon.” In the days following the announcement of the sale, Musk also hit senior Twitter executives on the platform, including sparking a barrage of criticism of the company’s top lawyer, Vijaya Gadde. At Friday’s meeting, angry staff members spoke out against the sale and asked the company for answers on how it would react to an expected massive staff outage, Reuters reported. Mr Agrawal tried to reassure staff that there had been no major outflows since the announcement, but that the company would monitor the situation. Another employee expressed concerns about job security following reports that Mr Musk was already considering job cuts and pay cuts for executives and board members. “I am tired of hearing about the value of the shareholders and the fiduciary obligation. “What are your honest thoughts about the very high probability that many employees will not have a job after the deal is closed?” asked the clerk. The CEO responded that Twitter has always cared about its employees and that it believes the company “will continue to care about its impact on the world and its customers” in the future. Despite efforts to quell workers’ concerns, an official told Reuters that the workforce did not believe the message being conveyed by executives. “Public speaking does not land,” they said. “We were told not to leak and do a job you are proud of, but there is no clear incentive for employees to do so.”
