Twitter’s C-suite clears out as Musk cements power over the company
By Clare Duffy, CNN Business
On October 27, the same day Elon Musk completed his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, the company’s chief customer officer, Sarah Personette, tweeted that she “had a great discussion” with the social network’s new owner.
The next day, Personette resigned.
In less than a week since Musk acquired Twitter, the company’s C-suite appears to have almost entirely cleared out, through a mix of firings and resignations. Musk has also dissolved Twitter’s former board of directors.
In their place, Musk is now the CEO and sole director of the social platform, according to a securities filing, cementing his unique influence over one of the world’s most influential platforms at a time when he is weighing significant changes to how it operates. At the same time, Musk is also running several other companies, including as CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.
Musk immediately fired four of Twitter’s top executives — CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal, General Counsel Sean Edgett and Policy Head Vijaya Gadde. Then on Tuesday, Personette and Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand confirmed in tweets that they’d resigned from the company on Friday.
Nick Caldwell, general manager of core technology, has changed his Twitter bio to “former Twitter Exec,” and Jay Sullivan, general manager of consumer and revenue products, removed the company and his title from his Twitter bio. The New York Times also reported Tuesday that Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Berland had left the company; on Tuesday night she tweeted a single blue heart.
It’s unclear whether VP of Operations Lindsey Iannucci, the other two members of Twitter’s top leadership team, will remain with the company. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment about the current employment status of Caldwell, Sullivan, Berland and Iannucci.
In place of Twitter’s former leadership, Musk appears to have tapped venture capitalists and friends to work with him as he weighs product changes, significant layoffs and product changes.
Investor Jason Calacanis and Sriram Krishnan, an Andreessen Horowitz general partner focused on crypto and Twitter’s former consumer teams lead, have both confirmed on Twitter that they are working with Musk to manage the company and brainstorm new products Musk has also reportedly brought in Craft Ventures partner David Sacks, as well as a handful of Tesla engineers.
Calacanis earlier this week tweeted that he was in New York on behalf of Twitter meeting with “the marketing and advertising community.” He has also tweeted questions to Twitter users about the platform’s subscription and bookmark features.
Twitter’s Head of Safety and Integrity, Yoel Roth, has also remained at the company. In recent days, he has tweeted about the company’s efforts to address a surge in hateful rhetoric on the platform, and Musk on Twitter encouraged users to follow him for “the most accurate understanding of what’s happening with trust & safety at Twitter.”
Musk may also be getting behind-the-scenes advice from Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey, who has long been friendly with Musk, rolled over his nearly $1 billion stake in Twitter as an investment in the new Musk-owned company. Dorsey previously called Musk “the singular solution I trust” for the company’s future and agreed to offer advice on how to manage Twitter.
The new Twitter owner has said he plans to establish a new content moderation council, comprised of “representatives with widely divergent views” to help determine Twitter’s policies. For now, he has stressed that the platform’s policies have not yet changed.
The-CNN-Wire
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