Even as its likely future owner, Musk, continues to do the opposite, the company's new CEO, Parag Agrawal, has largely remained silent.
After an especially tumultuous week at the company, which saw him oust two key executives, including the head of product, he finally broke his silence.
Beykpour said of the surprise decision, which happened while he was out on maternity leave, that it wasn't his decision. Beykpour said that he was asked to leave the company because of a desire to take the consumer team in a different direction.
A classic CEO skill not shared by his predecessor is that of deftly saying a lot without saying much substance.
We announced changes to our leadership team and operations yesterday. Changes impacting people are always hard. And some have been asking why a “lame-duck” CEO would make these changes if we’re getting acquired anyway. The short answer is very simple:
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) May 13, 2022
He said that he expects the Musk deal to close, but that under his watch, he needs to be prepared for all scenarios. Tech giants are putting hiring freezes in place to weather the storm, as are startups. The same thing is happening, according to Agrawal.
The industry is in a very challenging environment right now. I will not use the deal as an excuse to avoid making important decisions for the health of the company.
Top Twitter execs, including heads of revenue and consumer products, are out following Musk deal
The decision to cut influential leaders in the company squares with the vision Musk has for the company. Over the last year, the company has looked like a very different beast, shipping new consumer products left and right, solving hard problems like harassment, and experimenting with new revenue streams to set it free from. The company appears to be changing tracks, getting rid of two figures who laid a lot of groundwork for growth. It is not known if Agrawal will stick it out into the Musk era.
The Musk sideshow continues. The CEO of the two companies is technically locked into the deal, but he continues to sow chaos and rack up likely SEC fines. Musk said that the deal is temporarily on hold as he reviews the social network's ratio of bots to real accounts.
At the time of writing, there wasn't any evidence to support that development. It's possible that Musk is trying to back out or re-price his purchase, but it's just as likely that he's just using the SEC fines as an excuse.
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