Twitter employees are reportedly in a panic over the rumors of Elon Musk taking over the company.
This news comes days after the world’s richest man became the company’s largest shareholder and then rejected an invitation to join the board. Musk himself hasn’t discussed his plans publicly beyond sending a cryptic tweet.
Bloomberg reported that “the vibe” at corporate headquarters is “super stressed,” with employees “working together to help each other get through the week.” The company was already scheduled to have a “Day of Rest” on Monday, but this mental health break did nothing to alleviate the panic felt by many, the report claims.
One employee who insisted on remaining anonymous said they were concerned that Musk was “just getting started, which is unfortunate.” Other colleagues described the current happenings as a “s*** show.”
“Musk’s immediate chilling effect was something that bothered me significantly,” AI research team director Rumman Chowdhury shared. “Twitter has a beautiful culture of hilarious constructive criticism, and I saw that go silent because of his minions attacking employees.”
The anxiety stems from an announcement that came from Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Sunday night.
“Elon Musk has decided not to join our board,” he said in a statement. “We announced on Tuesday that Elon would be appointed to the Board contingent on a background check and formal acceptance. Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board.”
“There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged,” Agrawal continued. “The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else’s. Let’s tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we’re building.”
A Q&A session between Musk and employees was canceled. Then came the Tesla founder’s cryptic tweet of a face emoji holding a hand over its mouth, an emoji he later deleted
Followers on social media weren’t shy about making predictions for the future, which they believe could end with Musk taking over the whole social media site.
“Hostile takeover inbound,” Austen Allred, CEO Bloom Institute of Technology, tweeted. “My read of this: (I’m guessing). 1. Twitter board wakes up to realize Elon owns 9% of the company. There’s a path to him taking over. 2. Offers a board seat contingent upon him not buying too many shares. Try to contain. 3. Negotiations break down on term details. 4. ???”
They noted how a board seat didn’t translate into much power, but holding a larger percentage of the company could make a huge difference.
“This decision by Elon does not bode well for Twitter,” social media consultant Matt Navarra told Bloomberg. “Twitter thought having Trump on the platform was tough. Elon Musk is going to be a corporate nightmare.”