Tesla chief Elon Musk's stop-start plan to buy social media platform Twitter has left staff in an uncomfortable limbo. Photos / AP, Getty Images
On the walls of Twitter's offices around the world — in San Francisco, London and New York — neon signs light up encouraging employees to #lovewhereyouwork.
But over the past six months, the mantra has become difficult for many to live by. Since April, Twitter staff have become Silicon Valley's most pitied workforce, left in an uncomfortable limbo after Elon Musk made his uninvited US$44 billion bid for the platform, before attempting to pull out of the deal, all while goading them and discrediting their work.
Now, one of their sharpest critics may become their owner. Last week Musk revived his Twitter buyout plans, and a Delaware judge postponed a legal dispute between the two parties, giving them until October 28 to reach a resolution on the sale.
What next? Already attrition at Twitter, which has more than 7,000 staffers, has risen dramatically, according to insiders. Those remaining are weighing up whether they will stay on if a deal closes to see what a Musk reign looks like or jump ship immediately.
Some employees believe the Tesla chief executive's reputation could reinvigorate Twitter's slow pace of product innovation, particularly away from the pressure of the public markets. However, others fear being at the mercy of a whimsical billionaire without a clear plan for what they believe to be a vital tool for democracy.
"Twitter staff are battle-weary," said Bruce Daisley, former head of Twitter's operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "It is Musk's capricious and unpredictable interventions that have coloured the whole of the Twitter experience." But matters like Twitter's policies on speech are "serious and material", he added.
Musk's takeover bid in April immediately sparked a backlash inside Twitter. According to several recent staff, the company's watercooler Slack channel — a messaging group meant to be the online version of chatting around the office watercooler — was flooded with messages from anxious employees, concerned about Musk's libertarian politics and his promise to loosen Twitter's content moderation.
Others have noted the long hours and working culture encouraged by Musk at his existing companies was at odds with Twitter's more relaxed, remote working bent.
As the saga dragged on, this was coupled with confusion over Twitter's future direction amid a wider economic slowdown and an advertising slump. "You have documented statements that say 'this is our strategy, our priorities'. Are we still working on those or not?" one recent employee said.
Meanwhile, leaks of Slack channel conversations and internal divisions have exacerbated tensions between rank-and-file employees and management.
Twitter executives have warned staff that indiscretion could affect the deal and have frustrated employees by keeping silent about the process. This led some staff to feel like they were being silenced and not kept sufficiently abreast of events.
"I think [management] followed a very traditional deal playbook in both their internal and external communications. The problem is this was never going to be a traditional deal process . . . I wish they had been more aggressive in defending the company," one former executive said.
"Most people are likely leaving, not just because of Musk — because of the very clear lack of regard for any of us," said one senior employee, adding that many staff were "mobilising" by setting up mini support groups among themselves and discussing future plans.
Some employees may have no choice about their future either way. If a deal closes, the current board will no longer exist and it will be up to Musk to decide on the governance structure.
Text messages made public as part of the legal battle between the two sides revealed that Musk has been inundated with recommendations from his associates of high profile executives to populate Twitter's inner circle, such as former Uber chief business officer Emil Michael and Benchmark venture capitalist Bill Gurley. Musk only floated one name himself as a potential board member, chat show host Oprah Winfrey. He also suggested that he would not appoint any C-suite management positions at all, writing that he would personally "oversee software development".
Meanwhile, Musk told Twitter staff at a Q&A session in June that its business needed to "get healthy" and undergo a "rationalisation of headcount and expenses".
Those working in marketing and communications in particular are acutely aware their time at the company may be coming to an end, according to company insiders. In 2020, Musk dissolved Tesla's press relations team, saying: "Other companies spend money on advertising & manipulating public opinion, Tesla focuses on the product."
Some in the industry warn a sudden brain drain could leave Twitter's systems and user security vulnerable.
"One person can leave and the system would be replaceable. But if all of a sudden all these people leave, or are fired, the possibility of a big mistake dramatically increases," said Jason Goldman, a former Twitter board member and product chief.
Going forward, staff have been analysing Musk's previous comments for signs of how he will shake up the company. Last week, he tweeted that "software engineering, server operations & design will rule the roost" at Twitter under his ownership, and promised "very rapid product evolution".
Alongside previous promises to "defeat the spam bots" and "authenticate all humans", Musk has also recently said buying Twitter will be "an accelerant to creating X, the everything app" — signalling grander plans to incorporate messaging, payments and commerce into a super app.
But it is Musk's plans to change what Twitter employees believe to be nuanced and well-informed rules on speech that have sparked the most consternation internally. While Twitter is reviewing its own policies on permanent bans around breaches such as repeatedly sharing misinformation, Musk has said he would do away with permanent bans altogether and allow all but illegal content on the platform. He previously told the Financial Times he would reinstate former president Donald Trump to the platform.
"Am worried not so much about the Elon takeover and the consequences in the workplace, more so that he will turn this platform into a political weapon for harassing everybody," wrote one employee on the anonymous message board Blind, where users' place of work is verified using company email addresses.
In particular, some staff question whether the unpredictable nature of Musk, who recently got into a Twitter spat with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy after proposing the war in Ukraine be solved by ceding territory to Russia, is at odds with controlling a platform that has global implications for political speech.
Musk upset staff when singling out senior Twitter figures for criticism, including policy chief Vijaya Gadde, a move that triggered a barrage of attacks from the entrepreneur's loyal online followers. Others pointed to text messages made public that show the billionaire getting angry when Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal asked him not to tweet out "Is Twitter dying?"
"Someone pushed back on Elon in the softest way possible and then he threw a temper tantrum," the former executive said.
"This is what staffers are afraid about. Who is possibly going to tell Elon that he is not right because then he is going to fire you or turn his hoards of followers against you?"
Written by: Hannah Murphy and Dave Lee
© Financial Times
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