Twitter CEO Agrawal Fires More Senior Execs Ahead of Musk Takeover

Twitter’s inner turmoil intensifies this week as Elon Musk’s takeover of the corporate attracts shut. Within the newest of a string of management shakeups, CEO Parag Agrawal fired two senior managers accountable for income and product. The destiny of Agrawal’s personal job can also be up within the air as Twitter’s future proprietor has expressed an curiosity in working the corporate himself.

Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s head of consumer product for 4 years, was let go on Might 12 whereas on paternity depart, in keeping with a sequence of tweets he posted. “Parag requested me to depart after letting me know that he desires to take the group in a unique course,” Beykpour mentioned in one of the tweets.

The opposite fired govt this week is Bruce Falck, who leads Twitter’s income product division (creating merchandise for advertisers). Falck introduced his departure in a now-deleted tweet on Might 12. His Twitter bio now says “unemployed.”

How is Twitter being reorganized?

Agrawal has dismissed about half of Twitter’s senior management group since succeeding Jack Dorsey as CEO in November 2021. In his first month on the job, Agrawal reorganized Twitter’s design and engineering groups and fired chief designer Dantley Davis and engineering head Michael Montano. In January, he let go safety head Peiter Zatko, a widely known determine throughout the cybersecurity group who joined Twitter in late 2020. These personnel adjustments had been made earlier than Musk started shopping for Twitter shares and expressed an curiosity in buying the corporate.

It’s unclear whether or not the reshuffling this week is a part of Agrawal’s present agenda of working Twitter or a newer determination to reorganize the corporate’s management in preparation for Musk’s takeover—which as of this morning was “placed on maintain” pending some due diligence stories on Twitter’s consumer quantity.

What’s going to occur to Twitter’s CEO?

Agrawal has good causes to do one thing to defend his personal job safety. Musk has informed his Twitter co-investors he intends to function the corporate’s CEO, not less than for a time, when the acquisition completes. He didn’t say how which will have an effect on Agrawal’s place throughout the firm.

“It actually looks as if Parag could also be shaping a brand new narrative forward of Elon Musk’s entrance into the scene,” mentioned Ari Zoldan, as adjunct professor who teaches entrepreneurship at Yeshiva College. “Throughout transitions and unsure instances, staff and fairly often senior executives are let go and pegged because the scapegoat. It may be the case right here.”

Different observers see it extra as enterprise as standard. “After all [Agrawal] is jockeying to take care of a key function in Twitter with or with out Musk’s involvement. However these replacements may very well be extra associated with Agrawal’s personal plans to run Twitter than him finishing up the requests of Musk,” mentioned Jason Schloetzer, a professor who teaches company governance at Georgetown College.

Agrawal, Twitter’s former chief expertise officer, was appointed by Dorsey when the latter determined to step down and concentrate on his different firm, Block. Dorsey has served as Twitter’s CEO twice, however says he won’t ever lead Twitter once more.

That successfully leaves Agrawal preventing alone when Musk arrives. Musk is thought for not liking Agrawal very a lot. In December 2021, shortly after Agrawal was promoted CEO, Musk tweeted a photoshopped meme depicting him as former USSR dictator Joseph Stalin. The tweet was presumably a jab at Agrawal for his previous feedback defending censorship on Twitter.

Musk has additionally mocked Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of authorized, coverage and belief, deriding her because the platform’s “high censorship advocate.” Final month, he tweeted a meme with a photograph of Gadde that forged her as an icon of “Twitter’s left wing bias.”

Twitter has paused most hiring aside from business-critical roles, the corporate mentioned in an announcement on Might 13, including that “we’re pulling again on non-labor prices to make sure we’re being accountable and environment friendly.”