Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced to Twitter investors that he plans to cut nearly 75 percent of the social network’s staff if he finally takes control, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
Specifically, the tycoon plans to lay off around 5,500 employees, leaving a workforce of just over 2,000 employees currently employed by the social network.
Twitter was already hoping to lay off some of its team due to economic factors, though at no time did it plan to cut staff by three-quarters, according to the aforementioned media.
Ultimately, the cuts would not only affect workers, but also corporate infrastructures and data centers that allow the social network to function.
For this reason, the decision could affect the millions of users of the social network, as they could be at risk of possible hacks and be more exposed to offensive material, according to experts consulted by the Bloomberg agency.
According to the documents consulted by the Post and the testimonies of other sources, the cuts would not only affect the staff, but also the company’s infrastructures, and specifically the data centers that allow the operation of this network, consulted daily by over 200 million users.
Musk has a date until October 28 to close the Twitter acquisition if he wants to avoid going to trial with the company, after which the businessman and engineer have expressed their intention to join the original deal to buy. Twitter for $ 54.20 per share, which would imply a total of $ 44,000 million (€ 44,880 million).
