Elon Musk has ordered job cuts across Twitter, with layoffs expected to start as soon as Saturday, three days before workers were to collect on a Nov. 1 stock $100 million grant distribution that makes up a major part of their pay, according to sources who spoke with The New York Times.
Musk on Friday completed a $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter and quickly began cleaning house, with at least four top Twitter executives — including the chief executive and chief financial officer — getting fired on Thursday.
Managers on Friday were asked to make lists of employees to cut, and some teams were to be cut back more than others, according to the Times.
The numbers for the layoffs haven't yet been determined, so it's unknown how many of the company's approximately 7,500 employees will be drawing unemployment in the upcoming days. By laying off people early, Musk may be able to avoid paying out the stock grants, reports the newspaper.
As part of his plan for buying the company, Musk told investors that he'll reduce Twitter's workforce, find new revenue streams, roll back content moderation rules, and take the company private.
Twitter and a Musk spokesman did not return a request for comment.
The SpaceX founder already on Thursday, the day he took ownership of Twitter, fired the company's chief executive, the chief financial officer, and other executives and appealed to advertisers to assure them the company will be a respected place for them to do business.
Meanwhile, while Musk had initially said he wanted his new company to not censor commentary and would welcome back banned users like former President Donald Trump, on Friday, he said any such changes wouldn't happen immediately and that e will form a "council" to handle content questions.
He also said he wouldn't immediately reinstate the users who were thrown off the site by its former owners.