As Musk and his advisers take control of the company, they are preparing to lay off employees and make changes to the product.
The chief customer officer, the head of people and diversity, and the head of product have all left the company recently, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. The two people who quit on Monday did not give a reason for their departure. People said that more executives might leave.
Advertisers, who provide about 90 percent of the revenue for the platform, are grappling with Mr. Musk's ownership of the platform. The billionaire, who is meeting advertising executives in New York this week, has spooked some advertisers because he has said he would loosenTwitter's content rules, which could lead to a surge in misinformation and other toxic content
Three people with knowledge of the communication said that IPG, one of the world's largest advertising companies, issued a recommendation to its media agencies for clients to temporarily stop spending on social media because of moderation concerns. The Global Alliance for Responsible Media is a coalition of platforms, advertisers and industry groups that is fighting harmful content on social media.
The company is adjusting to a new reality under the leadership of Mr. Musk. Mr. Musk moved quickly to install trusted engineers and close friends from his other companies at the social media firm.
Mr. Musk and his advisers have been working on a number of changes to the company. Managers at the micro-messaging service said they are finishing up lists of high- and low-performing workers, most likely with an eye towards layoffs. Several employees have already been let go and the timing and scope of mass layoffs are still unknown.
Mr. Musk said on Tuesday that users would have to pay $8 a month to use the service. He said that subscribers would be able to share long videos and see fewer ads.
The deal was a big one. Musk made an offer worth $44 billion for the social media platform, saying he wanted to turn it into a private company and allow people to speak more freely. The battle that followed lasted months.
There was a move. The price Mr. Musk agreed to pay for the company in April was proposed on October 4. The purchase of the company was completed on October 27th.
He said that he wanted power to the people.
A spokeswoman wouldn't say anything. Mr. Musk did not reply. Requests for comment were not responded to. A reporter for Morning Brew is a fan of IPG.
Sarah Personette, the chief customer officer, Dalana Brand, the head of people and diversity, Jay Sullivan, the head of product, and Nick Caldwell, the executive responsible for core technologies, left the company in recent days. Before Mr. Musk closed the deal, there were few of the leaders it had.
Ms. Personette said that she met Mr. Musk last week to talk about advertising partnerships with the company. Mr Musk wrote an open letter to advertisers after their meeting. He said that a council would be formed on the topic of moderation.
Ms. Personette said she believed that Mr. Musk's team understood the importance of holding up the standards.
The coalition wrote in a post that it was keeping an eye on how the panel would be set up. The assessment would be shared with members of the advertising industry. Since the beginning of the group, the coalition has included the social media site.
Advertisers don't want brand safety to be a problem.
General GM said last week that it was temporarily suspending its advertising on the social networking site. G.M. is a competitor ofTesla.
American Express, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson are some of the clients of IPG. Roughly 40 billion dollars in marketing investment is managed by Mediabrands.
According to the chief executive of Black Glass, the company has surveyed many of its clients, including Walmart. She said that most of them said they were going to stop spending money on the platform until they had more confidence in it.
She said that they were opting out of the drama. They are watching this unfold and waiting to see how this all plays out before making a decision.
More than 40 civil rights groups sent an open letter to 20 of the top advertisers on Tuesday asking them to stop advertising on the platform if Mr. Musk throws out the platform's content moderation safeguards. The letter was organized by groups such as Free Press and Media Matters for America and was signed by organizations such as the N.A.A.C.P.
The groups wrote that if Musk follows through with just a fraction of what he has already committed to, then the platform won't be a safe place for brands. Advertisers need urgent action
Ms. Brand had resigned on Friday. Mr. Caldwell updated his profile on the social networking site to say that he was a former executive of the company. He and Mr. Sullivan left the company, according to four people.
Ms. Personette, Ms. Brand, Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Caldwell did not reply to questions.
Mike gave reporting.
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