Two of the top leaders at Twitter are no longer with the company as the social media platform begins to make changes ahead of Elon Musk’s expected arrival at the company as its new CEO after his $44 billion purchase of the company is finalized.
“Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s general manager, is leaving and will be replaced by Jay Sullivan,” The New York Times reported. “Mr. Sullivan is currently the interim general manager of the consumer product. Bruce Falck, Twitter’s general manager for revenue, is also departing the company.”
An internal company memo from CEO Parag Agrawal obtained by The New York Times said it was “critical to have the right leaders at the right time.”
“The truth is that this isn’t how and when I imagined leaving Twitter, and this wasn’t my decision,” Beykpour said in a statement on Twitter. “Parag asked me to leave after letting me know that he wants to take the team in a different direction.”
The truth is that this isn’t how and when I imagined leaving Twitter, and this wasn’t my decision. Parag asked me to leave after letting me know that he wants to take the team in a different direction.
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) May 12, 2022
The memo also reportedly said Twitter was halting most new hiring and was cutting back on spending in-part due to the company not achieving key growth metrics.
The New York Times previously reported that Musk plans to hire approximately 3,600 employees over a period of time but not before dismissing up to 1,000 current employees.
“Musk anticipates Twitter’s total number of users will grow from 217 million at the end of last year to nearly 600 million in 2025 and 931 million six years from now,” the report said. “Most of that growth will come from Twitter’s ad-supported business, including Twitter Blue, for which users pay $3 a month to customize their experience on the app. According to the pitch deck, Mr. Musk expects 69 million users of Twitter Blue by 2025 and 159 million in 2028.”
The news comes after the U.S. government reportedly opened an investigation into Musk’s business dealings surrounding his purchase of Twitter.
“The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing Mr. Musk’s tardy submission of a public form that investors must file when they buy more than 5% of a company’s shares,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “The disclosure functions as an early sign to shareholders and companies that a significant investor could seek to control or influence a company.”
The report said that Musk’s April 4 disclosure filing was at least 10 days late, a move that is believed to have saved him more than $140 million because share prices could have been higher if the public knew about his ownership of 5% of the company.