Elon Musk’s bid for Twitter prompts employee worries, anger

That afternoon, Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal held a companywide meeting to reassure his workforce of 7,500 full-time employees by arguing that one man could not change a culture and that it was up to the company to set strategy, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The reputation Musk has built for himself, in part through the trolling he engages in on Twitter, is emerging as a liability among the social media company’s employees. Twitter is known for its liberal workforce and flexible work environment. Musk, on the other hand, has appeared to mock gender pronouns, has peddled coronavirus misinformation, and his company Tesla has been the target of multiple lawsuits for alleged racial discrimination and sexual harassment.

Multiple employees tweeted their displeasure Thursday regarding Musk.

Employee discontent could factor into the decision facing Twitter’s board as it weighs Musk’s offer that values the company at $43 billion and would take it private. In addition to evaluating the financial details of Musk’s bid, the board members will probably consider Musk’s potential leadership chops as the company grapples with significant business and political challenges.

What’s going on with Musk buying Twitter?

Twitter’s Agrawal, who only took over as CEO in December, ended up in the uncomfortable position of answering for employee criticism of Musk at Thursday’s all-hands meeting. He addressed a wide range of questions from Twitter workers about Musk’s offer to buy the company, including about how people of color at treated at his company Tesla and the billionaire’s staunch support for free speech on social media. Others asked for employee representation on the board and about what would happen to Twitter employees’ restricted stock units if the company was taken private, the people said.

Some walked away disappointed with Agrawal’s assurances, saying it felt like empty words.

“Clearly people are frustrated that employees seem to be an afterthought,” one said.

Twitter employees faced a whirlwind month as Musk first took a massive stake in the company, then agreed to join the board, then left before he joined. The news on Thursday that Musk made an offer to take the company private sent shivers through the workforce, which was already concerned about his leadership style.

Elon Musk says he has backup plan to buy Twitter in TED interview

“Musk taking over Twitter would be a nightmare for many employees that have worked under the Dorsey and Twitter regime,” said Daniel Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at financial services firm Wedbush Securities, referring to the company’s former CEO Jack Dorsey. “I would expect a flood of résumés to hit, if Musk eventually takes over Twitter. And I think there’s a major shake-up that’s going to happen there one way or another.”

Twitter declined to comment. Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier Thursday during a TED Talk in Vancouver, Musk said he would err on the side of free speech. “I do think that we want to be just very reluctant to delete things and … just be very cautious with permanent bans,” he said, adding that he would prefer timeouts.

Last week, Musk revealed he had purchased a more than 9 percent stake in Twitter, and the next day, Agrawal announced Musk would be joining the board. On Sunday evening, Agrawal made a subsequent announcement saying Musk had declined the seat.

Even before his takeover bid, some Twitter employees struggled last week to support Musk’s involvement in the company because they said his values appeared to be in contradiction with the company, according to internal messages viewed by The Washington Post. Several employees noted in internal messages that Musk, who considers himself to be a champion of free speech, has appeared to express disdain for the use of gender pronouns.

“We know that he has caused harm to workers, the trans community, women, and others with less power in the world,” one employee asked. “How are we going to reconcile…