- Twitter executives held an “impromptu” all-hands meeting to talk more about Elon Musk’s acquisition.
- Workers asked about the terms of the deal and pleaded for honesty from CEO Parag Agrawal.
- “I wish we had done better with lots of things,” Agrawal said during the call.
Twitter employees hammered executives with questions about an impending acquisition by Elon Musk, expressing anger and frustration during an “impromptu” all-hands meeting on Friday.
They demanded more specifics about the deal and how they were expected to recruit in light of Musk’s comments and plans for the future of the company.
Described as looking tired and at times annoyed by a person who attended the meeting, CEO Parag Agrawal was mostly terse in a recording reviewed by Insider. However, he softened a little when an “angry and disappointed” employee asked him to share “honest thoughts about the very high likelihood that many employees will not have jobs after this deal closes.”
After a pause, Agrawal did not deny that there would be layoffs and admitted that things under Musk are likely to be different.
“Different organizations have different cultures, but they’ve excelled,” he went on. “It will be different here than what it is today, but for the people who are here, it will be worth it to be here.”
Employees also wanted clarity on some specifics of the deal with Musk, including what they could interpret from the $1 billion termination fee. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of legal, explained that such a provision should be seen as “an incentive in some ways to perform the contract.”
“But the contract itself has very strong requirements to perform,” Gadde continued. “What I mean by that is there’s a provision in the contract that says Twitter can sue to have the contract enforced. So, as we say, it’s not just about the termination fee. It’s all the provisions and how they play together to create deal certainty.”
‘We’ll continue to fight for inclusion and diversity’
Dalana Brand, Twitter’s chief people and diversity officer, was also on the call. When asked “What should we tell the LGTBQ community at recruiting conferences we’re lined up to attend when they ask us why they should come work at Twitter when we just sold ourselves to an open homophobe and transphobe?” Brand avoided agreeing with that interpretation of Musk.
“I cannot speak to Elon’s personal feelings on these things. I can’t speak to what he’s done in his other companies, in terms of people’s experiences,” Brand said. “Perhaps in the future we’ll be able to have a conversation. That may be telling.”
“What I can tell you is that, while I am here, Twitter will continue to prioritize DEI,” she continued. “We’ll continue to prioritize our people, we’ll continue to fight for inclusion and diversity for all of our teams. Full stop. I can’t speak to Elon and what Elon will do in the future.”
‘I wish we had done better with lots of things’
Agrawal also admitted to having some regrets, without specifying what they were, and spoke of not being able to make changes he had hoped to. “I wish we had done better with lots of things,” he said. “There are things I disagree with fundamentally. I wanted us together to change those things in the interest of improving, introspecting and making Twitter better for everyone around the world and to have everyone around the world use Twitter and have it be even more impactful.”
Still, he tried to end on a positive note, telling employees to look at such a time of change as “an opportunity.”
“It’s important in these moments to think of what we have built as being resilient,” Agrawal said at the end of the call. “That’s what we should take pride in and that should help us feel comforted with what lies ahead. If we see this as an opportunity, it will manifest as an opportunity. If we see this as doom and gloom, it will manifest as doom and gloom.”
His words may have had some positive impact. An employee said after the call,
Slack
messages became “slightly more upbeat.”
“More people are saying they’re excited and here for whatever the future holds,” the staffer added.
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