Two Twitter Leaders Are Leaving Firm Following Musk Deal

SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter’s chief govt fired two prime executives, froze most new hiring and mentioned he was slashing spending on Thursday, because the social media firm tries to vary its enterprise trajectory whereas grappling with a takeover from Elon Musk, the world’s richest man.

In a memo shared with staff and obtained by The New York Occasions, Parag Agrawal, Twitter’s chief govt, mentioned the corporate was pausing most hiring and pulling again on discretionary spending, although it was not planning layoffs. The strikes stemmed partly from Twitter not hitting objectives in viewers and income progress, Mr. Agrawal wrote.

Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s basic supervisor, and Bruce Falck, the final supervisor for income, are leaving, the memo mentioned. Mr. Beykpour is being changed by Jay Sullivan, the interim basic supervisor of shopper product, the memo mentioned.

“It’s crucial to have the precise leaders on the proper time,” Mr. Agrawal mentioned within the memo. He added that Twitter had determined at first of the pandemic in 2020 to take a position aggressively in progress, however “as an organization we didn’t hit intermediate milestones that allow confidence in these objectives.”

Mr. Beykpour and Mr. Falck mentioned on Twitter that they’d been fired by Mr. Agrawal. Mr. Falck later appeared to delete his tweet.

Brian Poliakoff, a Twitter spokesman, confirmed the memo and Mr. Agrawal’s adjustments. He declined to remark additional.

The adjustments increase questions for Mr. Musk about his $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter. The billionaire, who has mentioned he doesn’t care in regards to the economics of the corporate, is paying $54.20 a share for the agency. In a pitch to buyers, he has additionally mentioned he desires to quintuple Twitter’s income by 2028 and develop its customers to 931 million by then, up from 217 million on the finish of final 12 months.

However Twitter’s shares have been sinking, a part of a broader pullback in expertise shares, and hovered at $45.22 on Thursday. Mr. Agrawal’s strikes additionally sign that the corporate’s enterprise, which depends primarily on digital promoting, is troubled. Final month, Twitter reported quarterly income progress and earnings that fell in need of what Wall Avenue had been anticipating.

“Wanting right into a crystal ball two weeks in the past, the board made an important choice,” mentioned Brian Quinn, an affiliate professor at Boston School Regulation College specializing in company mergers, referring to Twitter’s board. “The thought the board might moderately get to a $54 value on their very own by their very own making was debatable earlier than they took the supply — however clearly now, it’s not going to occur anytime close to time period.”

Mr. Musk, who additionally runs the electrical carmaker Tesla and the rocket firm SpaceX, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. He has mentioned he’ll take Twitter non-public and needs to enhance the product. He has additionally criticized a few of Twitter’s prime executives publicly, particularly for the way in which that they’ve moderated speech on the service. The billionaire, who remains to be lining up some financing for the acquisition, is anticipated to shut the deal for Twitter within the subsequent few months.

Mr. Musk might stroll away from the deal, however must pay a $1 billion breakup charge. And so long as his debt financing for the acquisition stays intact, Twitter might deliver Mr. Musk to courtroom to drive him to pay for the deal.

Mr. Agrawal, who was appointed Twitter’s chief govt final November, has made a collection of adjustments on the firm and terminated some longtime executives. That very same month, as an example, the corporate’s head of communications departed and its head of individuals mentioned she would go away by the top of the 12 months. In December, Twitter’s head of engineering and head of design and analysis left.

Whereas Mr. Agrawal makes an attempt to overtake the corporate, Twitter has been in an uproar over Mr. Musk’s takeover. At an organization assembly on the day the deal was introduced, Mr. Agrawal answered questions on how the deal got here to be, what would occur to staff’ compensation and jobs, and the way Mr. Musk would possibly change Twitter.

“A few of you might be involved, a few of you might be excited, and a few of you might be ready to see how this goes. I do know this impacts all of you personally,” he mentioned on the time. He later added, “As soon as the deal closes, we don’t know what route this firm will go in.”

In his memo on Thursday, Mr. Agrawal didn’t point out Mr. Musk by title however acknowledged the corporate was in the midst of an acquisition and was unclear when it could shut.

It’s unclear how lengthy Mr. Agrawal will likely be in control of Twitter. Mr. Musk has floated the concept of turning into the corporate’s momentary chief govt as soon as the deal is accomplished.

Final week at one other firm assembly, Mr. Sullivan, the newly elevated basic supervisor, instructed Twitter staff to remain motivated and proceed working, regardless of the uncertainty brought on by Mr. Musk, based on audio of the assembly that was obtained by The Occasions.

“We could also be non-public, we could also be public, we might have an proprietor who desires to do one thing completely different,” Mr. Sullivan mentioned. “We don’t know what the longer term goes to carry, however what we’ll know is we left all of it on the sphere for the individuals who depend on us on a regular basis.”

Mr. Sullivan additionally gave a frank evaluation of Twitter’s weaknesses, saying that the corporate had failed to hold on to new customers and staff had handed the buck on fixing powerful issues. He mentioned machine studying, which is a type of synthetic intelligence, was necessary to Twitter’s progress. He additionally warned that Twitter’s content material moderation insurance policies would possibly change into extra versatile.

“Social media is in a disaster of confidence proper now,” Mr. Sullivan mentioned.

Kate Conger and Lauren Hirsch contributed reporting.