Twitter CEO Elon Musk initiated another round of layoffs Saturday as revenues shrink for the company he purchased for $44 billion late last year.
The Information initially reported at least 50 more workers were ushered out over the weekend. Then the New York Times revealed late Sunday that the number ballooned to at least 200 in this latest spate of cost-cutting.
Wow the layoffs last night included a ton of surprises. Hardcore Musk loyalists (more on that soon…) and the founder of the newsletter platform Revue that Twitter acquired in 2021. https://t.co/zO06QbhNpn
— Zoë Schiffer (@ZoeSchiffer) February 26, 2023
The firings affected several engineering teams, reportedly including those operating advertising technology, the Twitter app itself, and the company’s digital infrastructure.
This new round of firings followed a massive forced exodus in early November. At that point, Musk laid off roughly 3,700 employees in the first major round of cost-cutting.
The company is believed to now have a roster of about 2,300 employees.
Among those handed pink slips was senior product manager Martijn de Kuijper, who sold the Dutch digital newsletter startup Revue to Twitter in Jan. 2021. He tweeted early Sunday that he’d been locked out of his email and added “now my Revue journey is really over.”
Twitter has been victimized by a concerted effort from left-wing activists to organize an advertiser boycott. Those critical of Musk’s commitment to being a “free speech absolutist” petitioned companies to cut back or withdraw their marketing dollars from the social media platform.
Part of Musk’s mission included reinstating users who had been previously banished, including former President Donald Trump.
The new CEO went further and hired a team of independent journalists to sift through company records. Their goal, which has been remarkably successful, was to reveal past efforts by Twitter management to suppress free speech and control the narrative on the platform.
Musk gives the appearance of being unconcerned with the company’s current financial woes. His estimated net worth of $190 billion makes him the globe’s second-richest person.
He recently said that the company was rescued from bankruptcy and is now “trending to breakeven.”
The billionaire did the conservative world an enormous favor when he purchased Twitter, and nothing proves it like the left’s anguish over the deal. With free speech restored and wise cutbacks, profitability should not be far behind.
