Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has told worried employees that he doesn’t know “what direction this company will go in” once the whopping USD 44 billion deal, which will take the social media giant private, closes with new owner billionaire Elon Musk.
The remarks by Agrawal, who took over the helm of the social networking giant just five months ago, came during a meeting with Twitter employees on Monday afternoon after the company said it had accepted Musk’s offer to buy it for about USD 44 billion.
“It’s important to acknowledge that all of you have many different feelings about what is happening,” The New York Times newspaper quoted Agrawal as saying.
The American daily, which listened to the meeting, said that Agrawal told employees that he estimated the deal might take three to six months to complete.
“In this moment, we operate Twitter as we always have,” he said, adding that “how we run the company, the decisions we make, and the positive changes we drive, that will be on us, and under our control.” Uncertainty now hangs over the fate of Twitter employees, who voiced concern over layoffs in the wake of the acquisition by Musk. The NYT report added that it is unclear how hands-on Musk plans to be at Twitter.
“Among the unanswered issues are whom he might pick to lead the company and how involved he would be in running the service,” it said, adding that Agrawal is “expected to remain in charge at least until the deal closes.” The NYT report added that in the employee meeting, Agrawal acknowledged the uncertainty ahead.
“Once the deal closes, we don’t know what direction this company will go in,” 37-year-old Agarwal said. Upon completion of the transaction, Twitter will become a privately held company.
The transaction, which has been unanimously approved by the Twitter Board of Directors, is expected to close in 2022, subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders, the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
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