Since buying Twitter last month, Elon Musk has made radical, chaotic changes at the social media company, including firing half the staff and imposing what he calls a "hardcore" work culture.
Musk had offered Twitter employees an ultimatum: either stay on and work long hours in a more “hardcore" version of Twitter or leave with severance pay.
Consequently, several employees in technical roles opted to leave than expected, compared to those in sales, partnerships, and similar roles, the agency said.
Citing some Twitter employees, the agency mentioned that on Friday, Musk asked leaders in those organizations to agree to fire more employees. Robin Wheeler, who ran marketing and sales, refused to do so, the people said. So did Maggie Suniewick, who ran partnerships. Both lost their jobs as a result, the people added.
Wheeler earlier this month had decided to resign from Twitter, but was convinced to stay, people familiar with the matter said. She has helped Musk communicate with advertisers who are wary of Twitter’s changing policies and vision. Several major brands have said they are pausing spending on Twitter.
Musk took the helm of the company in October. The world's richest man and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX bought the social media platform in late October for $44 billion after months of on-off negotiations.
In one of his first moves, the self-declared free speech absolutist announces he will form a "content moderation council" to make decisions in what is a nod to concerns that Twitter could become a free-for-all platform for disinformation and hate speech.
On November 1, Musk announces the site will charge $8 per month to verify users' accounts in a bid to solve issues with bots and trolls.
And subsequently, on 4 November, half of Twitter's 7,500-strong staff were shown exit doors, sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley.
The cull hits the marketing department hard, takes two-thirds of the design department, and maybe 75% of managers.
After two weeks, Musk delivered an ultimatum to Twitter staff on November 16, asking them to choose between being "extremely hardcore" and working long hours, or losing their jobs.
The ultimatum, led to "mass resignation" at the company while many employees started "#RIPTwitter", and "#GoodbyeTwitter" trends on the platform itself.
