Elon Musk has lined up a new Chief Executive for Twitter who will replace CEO Parag Agrawal once the $44 billion-sale of the social network is complete, news agency Reuters has reported quoting an unnamed source.
Musk told Twitter’s chairman Bret Taylor last month that he does not have confidence in the San Francisco-based company’s management.
Parag Agrawal, who was named Twitter’s Chief Executive in November, is expected to remain in his role until the sale of the company to Mr Musk is completed.
The source who told Reuters about Musk’s plans declined to reveal the identity of the replacement, the news agency reported.
Agrawal is estimated to receive $42 million if he were terminated within 12 months of a change in control at the social media company, according to research firm Equilar.
Amid intense speculation about what’s in store for him following the hostile takeover by the Tesla and SpaceX boss, Agrawal has appeared confident in his future at the company.
The Chief Executive, however, sought to quell employee anger on Friday during a company-wide meeting where employees demanded answers to how managers planned to handle an anticipated mass exodus prompted by Elon Musk.
The meeting came after Musk repeatedly criticized Twitter’s content moderation practices and a top executive responsible for setting speech and safety policies.
At the internal town hall meeting, which was heard by Reuters, executives said the company would monitor staff attrition daily, but it was too soon to tell how the buyout deal with Musk would affect staff retention.
Musk has pitched lenders on slashing board and executive salaries but exact cost cuts remain unclear, according to sources familiar with the matter. One source told Reuters Musk would not make decisions on job cuts until he assumes ownership of Twitter.
I’m tired of hearing about shareholder value and fiduciary duty. What are your honest thoughts about the very high likelihood that many employees will not have jobs after the deal closes?” one Twitter employee asked Agrawal, in a question read aloud during the meeting.
Agrawal answered that Twitter has always cared about its employees and would continue to do so.
“I believe the future Twitter organisation will continue to care about its impact on the world and its customers,” he said.
During the meeting, Agrawal urged staff to expect change in the future under new leadership, and acknowledged that the company could have performed better over the years.
“Yes, we could have done things differently and better. I could have done things differently. I think about that a lot,” he said.
