In October last year, when Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now rebranded as X, for a staggering $44 billion, few could have foreseen the storm that would follow: the controversial firing of 85% of the social media giant’s staff, leaving many questioning whether the tech billionaire had gone too far in reshaping the platform.
What Happened: Walter Isaacson, the renowned author and journalist known for his biographies of iconic figures like Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, who is currently in the news for writing the tech billionaire’s bibliography, shed light on the situation during a podcast interview with Lex Fridman.
During the interview, Isaacson said Musk believed that the team working on Twitter’s software was disproportionately large compared to other endeavors he was involved in, particularly Tesla’s full self-driving autopilot.
To rectify this, he initiated a three-phase staff reduction.
First, individuals responsible for coding in the past year had their work assessed by a team from Tesla’s autopilot division, leading to the removal of some employees.
Next, those who appeared less committed or loyal to the company were let go. Finally, a third round of layoffs further trimmed the workforce.
The response to these moves was immediate and mixed.
Many within Musk’s inner circle, from his lawyer Alex Spiro to his cousins, who were tasked with assessing employee performance, voiced concerns. They feared that the extent of the layoffs could jeopardize the platform’s functionality.
Isaacson summarized the sentiments, stating, “At each step of the way, almost everybody said, ‘That’s enough. It’s going to destroy things.'”
The biographer explained Musk’s saying that his algorithm dictated a 20% reduction in any change. “Did he overdo it? He probably overdid it by 20%, which is his formula, and they’re probably trying to hire people now to keep things going.”
Watch the complete podcast here:
Why It’s Important: In April this year, Musk disclosed that Twitter’s workforce had dwindled to about 1,500 employees, a significant reduction from its previous count of roughly 8,000.
In his first email to the staff after buying the company, the billionaire said that the platform required “intense work” in the office to turn around its fortunes.
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