Will Elon Musk block $100 million payout to Twitter employees?

Even though “the bird is freed” with Elon Musk steering the Twitter boat, the employees are apprehensive about their future in the company and afraid if the Tesla CEO would be delivering on his promise to pay compensation. The Twitter employees are due approximately $100 million in payouts. According to a report, as part of Elon Musk’s deal with Twitter and the company’s compensation programme, the Tesla CEO agreed to pay the employees in cash. The Twitter employees are now afraid that Elon Musk may lay them off before making the payouts, DealBook has learned.

As soon as Elon Musk acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal, the billionaire is said to have sacked four top executives of the microblogging site including CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde. Before the deal was finalised, Elon Musk had accused Parag Agrawal of misleading him and Twitter investors over the number of fake handles on the social media site. According to sources, CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal were “escorted out" of the social media company's San Francisco headquarters after the deal with Elon Musk was closed.

According to the reports, Parag Agrawal, Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde -- reportedly sacked soon after Elon Musk officially completed the takeover process -- are poised to collect more than $100 million in severance and payouts of previously granted equity awards.

“Parag Agrawal and Ned Segal were in Twitter's San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and were escorted out," Reuters quoted sources as saying. The New York Times reported that “at least one of the executives who was fired was escorted out of Twitter’s office."

According to the Bloomberg News calculations, Parag Agrawal, who became the Twitter CEO less than a year ago, is eligible to receive roughly $50 million or ₹412 crore in compensation. Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde may receive about ₹305 crore and ₹140 crore each, respectively.

WILL 75% OF TWITTER EMPLOYEES BE SACKED?

Recently, Elon Musk revealed what he plans to do with the employees of Twitter after becoming the boss, which he already has. Rumors were circulating that Elon Musk is planning to cut 75 percent of jobs after the Twitter buyout.

However, in an address to Twitter employees at the company’s San Francisco office, Elon Musk denied the previously reported number, said the people familiar with the matter. While Elon Musk will cut down some jobs, he has said that he doesn’t plan to cut 75 per cent of jobs at Twitter.