- Twitter executives held an “impromptu” meeting to talk more about the Elon Musk acquisition.
- Workers inquired about the terms of the deal and asked CEO Parag Agrawal for honesty.
- “I wish we had done better with a lot of things,” Agrawal said during the call.
Twitter employees peppered executives with questions about an impending takeover by Elon Musk, expressing anger and frustration during an “impromptu” meeting on Friday.
They demanded more details about the deal and how they were expected to hire in light of Musk’s comments and plans for the company’s future.
Described as tired and at times upset by one person who attended the meeting, CEO Parag Agrawal was mostly succinct in a recording reviewed by Insider. However, he mellowed a bit when an “angry and disappointed” employee asked him to share “honest thoughts about the great likelihood that many employees will be out of work after this deal closes.”
After a pause, Agrawal did not deny that there would be layoffs, admitting that things under Musk are likely to be different.
“Different organizations have different cultures, but they have stood out,” he continued. “It will be different here than it is today, but for the people who are here, it will be worth being here.”
Employees also wanted clarity on some details of the deal with Musk, including what they could interpret from the $1 billion termination fee. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s chief legal officer, explained that such a provision should be seen as “an incentive in some way to honor the contract.”
“But the contract itself has very strict requirements to meet,” Gadde continued. “What I mean by that is there’s a provision in the contract that says Twitter can sue to enforce the contract. So as we say, it’s not just about the termination fee. It’s all the provisions and how they interact. to create an agreement. certainty.”
‘We will continue to fight for inclusion and diversity’
Dalana Brand, Twitter’s director of people and diversity, was also on the call. When she was asked “What should we say to the LGBTQ community at the recruiting conferences we’re lined up to attend when they ask us why they should come to work at Twitter when we sold out to an outspoken homophobe and transphobe?” Brand avoided agreeing with that interpretation of Musk.
“I can’t speak to Elon’s personal feelings about these things. I can’t speak to what he’s done in his other companies, in terms of people’s experiences,” Brand said. “Maybe in the future we can have a conversation. That can be revealing.”
“What I can tell you is that while I’m here, Twitter will continue to prioritize DEI,” he continued. “We will continue to put our people first, we will 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 a lot of things’
Agrawal also admitted to having some regrets, without specifying what they were, and spoke of not being able to make the changes he had hoped for. “I wish we had done better with a lot of things,” he said. “There are things that I fundamentally disagree with. I wanted us to change those things together in order to improve, introspect and make Twitter better for everyone around the world and for everyone around the world to use Twitter and make it even better.” more shocking.”
Still, he tried to end on a positive note, telling employees to view this moment of change as “an opportunity.”
“It’s important right now to think about what we’ve built as resilient,” Agrawal said at the end of the call. “That’s what we should be proud of and that should help us feel comfortable with what’s to come. If we see this as an opportunity, it will manifest as an opportunity. If we see this as pessimism, it will manifest as pessimism.” darkness.”
His words may have had some positive impact. An employee said after the call,
Loose
the messages became “a little more optimistic”.
“More people say they are excited and here for whatever the future holds,” the staff member added.
Are you a Twitter employee with ideas to share? Do you have a tip? Contact Kali Hays at khays@insider.com, via the Signal secure messaging app at 949-280-0267 or Twitter DM @hayskali. Contact a non-work device.