Twitter staff ‘super stressed’ over Elon Musk chaos after the Tesla CEO decides not to join board
- Some worry Musk, known for being critical of Twitter to his 80 million followers on the platform, will not be required to act in the company’s best interests
- The billionaire is Twitter’s largest shareholder at 9 per cent and was set to join the board in a deal that would have capped his stake before pulling out
For some employees, the reversal signalled chaos: Musk was going to keep tweeting his critiques of Twitter to more than 80 million followers on the site, without any requirement to act in the best interests of the company. The Q&A was cancelled.
In his announcement late Sunday, Agrawal framed Musk’s surprise decision as good for Twitter, but warned of “distractions ahead”.
The whiplash is overwhelming, employees said. The vibe among workers at Twitter is “super stressed”, with employees “working together to help each other get through the week”, some said, asking not to be named discussing internal company details.
In recent days, Musk has tweeted product ideas from eliminating advertising for members of Twitter’s subscription service to turning part of its San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter. Without a board seat, there are no longer restrictions on how many shares he can buy, or on his tweeting; one employee expressed concern that Musk was “just getting started, which is unfortunate”. Multiple workers described the situation as a “sh-t show”.
Some Twitter staffers had mixed feelings about attending the ask-me-anything session with Musk anyway. It might have clarified whether Musk had plans to be friendly or hostile with his stake, but it could also have raised further questions about how to react to his whims.