Elon Musk to attend Twitter meeting

Tomorrow Elon Musk will speak to Twitter employees in a company video conference. 

Elon Musk is set to attend an "all-hands" Twitter meeting this Thursday to address employees for the first time.

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) June 14, 2022

Elon Musk will listen to Twitter employees

On 16 June, a company meeting will be held via video conference, at which time the company’s presumed new owner will answer questions from Twitter staff. 

This will be the first time ever that Musk will speak to Twitter employees, after reaching an agreement to purchase the company for $44 billion. 

Apparently, among other things, he will answer employees’ concerns about the significance of this acquisition. 

It is expected to be a tense meeting, as those most concerned about the takeover seem to be the company’s employees. A few days ago, for example, the statements of Tesla’s CEO about the possibility of smart-working being discontinued, with the consequent obligation to return to the office, caused quite a stir as Twitter has been one of the companies that has most focused on remote working. 

In particular, many of Twitter’s employees still work from home, and many also feel significantly more productive this way.

In addition, Twitter employees have already complained several times about a lack of transparency regarding the consequences that the new course imposed by Musk will have on them, especially from an economic point of view. 

Some fear that with the delisting they will lose the opportunity to earn from stock options, since a large part of those who work for the company earn up to half of their earnings from this source of income. 

The current CEO, Parag Agrawal, stated that the stock options will be converted into cash with the delisting, and that the benefits will remain the same for at least one year after the completion of the takeover. He also stated that no immediate layoffs are expected, but it is very likely that Musk himself will become CEO once the company is acquired.  

Fears and uncertainties among staff about new management

There are some employees who are afraid of being fired, so tomorrow’s meeting will be essential to try to provide some answers to these questions that are currently unanswered. 

Musk is preparing several cost-cutting measures at Tesla and SpaceX, such as reducing travel expenses and temporarily halting hiring. Furthermore, Agrawal revealed that at the beginning of the pandemic, in the early 2020s, Twitter invested aggressively to try to produce strong growth in users and revenues, but failed to achieve the expected results in the medium term. 

Added to this are concerns that Musk might use his powerful new social network to make political propaganda for himself, or for candidates he decides to support, so much so that some employees wonder whether the company will remain the same or become completely different from the one they are working for now. 

In reality, the takeover is not yet 100% certain, although it seems highly likely that it will go through. 

Twitter’s stock is still listed on the Nasdaq, where it is not doing so well anyway. The purchase price set by Elon Musk is over $54 per share, while the market price of the company’s shares has fallen to just over $37. In early April, after the announcement of the offer, it had actually risen to around $54, but has since lost a third of its value, before rebounding slightly at the end of May.