Elon Musk kicked off his imminent takeover of Twitter by bringing a sink into the company’s headquarters Wednesday afternoon as he visited the offices.
Musk’s visit to the company’s headquarters comes as he is expected to meet with employees before his acquisition of the company is finalized by the end of the week.
“Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” Musk tweeted.
Musk changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit” and changed his location to “Twitter HQ.”
Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
CNBC reported that Twitter Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland sent a message to employees that Musk was visiting this week, “meeting with folks, walking the halls, and continuing to dive in on the important work you all do. If you’re in SF and see him around, say hi!”
Earlier in the day, Musk said that one of the things that he most appreciated about the platform was how it empowered citizen journalism.
“A beautiful thing about Twitter is how it empowers citizen journalism – people are able to disseminate news without an establishment bias,” Musk tweeted.
“And do you consider local news citizen journalism?” a reporter asked Musk. “Have you been inside newsrooms and seen the everyday workings to make statements on news bias?”
“Definitely closer to citizen journalism – local news orgs are under-appreciated & should get way more prominence on Twitter,” Musk responded.
Musk will reportedly gut Twitter with massive cuts when he takes over, getting rid of the overwhelming majority of the company.
The Washington Post reported that Musk told prospective investors that he plans to get rid of “nearly 75 percent of Twitter’s 7,500 workers, whittling the company down to a skeleton staff of just over 2,000.”
The report said that even if the Musk’s acquisition of Twitter somehow does not go through, large cuts are still expected as the current people running the company planned to get rid of roughly 25% of the company’s staff.
The report said that the planned cuts by Twitter’s executives helped to explain why the company wanted to sell to Musk once he made the offer.
Twitter employees sent a list of demands to Musk at the start of the week, claiming that cutting staff “will hurt Twitter’s ability to serve the public conversation.”
“A threat of this magnitude is reckless, undermines our users’ and customers’ trust in our platform, and is a transparent act of worker intimidation,” the woke employees claimed. “A threat to workers at Twitter is a threat to Twitter’s future. These threats have an impact on us as workers and demonstrate a fundamental disconnect with the realities of operating Twitter. They threaten our livelihoods, access to essential healthcare, and the ability for visa holders to stay in the country they work in. We cannot do our work in an environment of constant harassment and threats. Without our work, there is no Twitter.”
The letter demanded that Musk “cease these negligent layoff threats.”
The letter then spelled out four core demands:
Respect: We demand leadership to respect the platform and the workers who maintain it by committing to preserving the current headcount.
Safety: We demand that leadership does not discriminate against workers on the basis of their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, or political beliefs. We also demand safety for workers on visas, who will be forced to leave the country they work in if they are laid off.
Protection: We demand Elon Musk explicitly commit to preserve our benefits, those both listed in the merger agreement and not (e.g. remote work). We demand leadership to establish and ensure fair severance policies for all workers before and after any change in ownership.
Dignity: We demand transparent, prompt and thoughtful communication around our working conditions. We demand to be treated with dignity, and to not be treated as mere pawns in a game played by billionaires.
Related: Biden Admin Discussing Taking New Action Over Elon Musk’s Business Dealings