-
Given the recent decline in the value of Twitter’s stock, Musk, who pays $54.20 per share for the company, claimed to have a sizable stake in the business. On Wednesday’s earnings call for Tesla, he stated: “Obviously me and other investors are paying a lot of money to Twitter right now.” The legal team assembled for Mr. Musk chose not to comment.
Since Mr. Musk became the company’s largest shareholder early this year, staff at Twitter have faced extremely challenging circumstances. The uncertain position of Twitter’s business adds to worries about his ownership.
Earlier this year, Twitter was considering cost-cutting measures, such as not replacing employees who left due to turnovers or minor layoffs. In recent months, Twitter has been aggressively cutting costs, freezing most jobs and shrinking real estate.
Employees are also concerned that Mr. Musk won’t continue to reward him as planned. As part of the deal, Musk agreed to pay Twitter employees equal pay and benefits for one year. However, their equity returns vary.
Some employees said they fear Mr. Musk has changed his mind about the deal so many times that he won’t be able to honor the deal. To address concerns, Twitter has produced an internal document answering questions about how stock returns will change under Mr. Musk, three people familiar with the matter said.
Twitter employees now receive periodic awards of company stock earned over time based on their employment contracts. However, these grants will be replaced with cash as Musk plans to privatize the company and delist Twitter shares. The shares already acquired by employees will be paid at the price Mr. Musk was happy to pay Twitter.
In his internal Slack channel, employees were asking each other for advice on how to manage finances during the merger process, three people familiar with the meeting said. Some were advised to download the stock contract in case Musk tried to remove or change it, he said.