Elon Musk begins to shake up product leadership at Twitter
Elon Musk is expected to appoint new product leadership at Twitter and met over the weekend with close friends and advisors on how best to change the service he just bought for $44 billion.
Twitter’s most senior product executives are unlikely to stay at the company with Musk in charge, according to people familiar with the company who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The new owner is likely replacing Nick Caldwell, Twitter’s head of engineering, and Jay Sullivan, general manager for both consumer and revenue product, as he revamps the company and leadership team. Caldwell updated his public Twitter bio to include the word “former,” while Sullivan deleted his bio entirely.
Musk, Caldwell and Sullivan didn’t respond to requests for comment. Twitter declined to comment.
It’s not clear who will ultimately take over, but Musk has turned to old friends for advice in the first few days of his Twitter ownership. He’s been meeting regularly with David Sacks, a friend from his PayPal days; Jason Calacanis, a friend and investor; and Sriram Krishnan, a former Twitter executive and current general partner at the venture firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Elon Musk’s now-deleted tweet of an unfounded story about Paul Pelosi sparked controversy over how false information propagates on Twitter.
The group has been discussing Twitter’s product strategy, though it’s unknown if any of them will be full-time leaders at the company. Both Calacanis and Sacks have Twitter email addresses in the company’s internal directory, and Krishnan tweeted Sunday that he’s still “very much in my day job” at Andreessen Horowitz.
Musk has also shown interest in bringing back Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s former head of product, who was fired in May, according to three of the people. It’s unclear if Beykpour will return.
New product leadership at Twitter is just one of a number of expected changes at the company after Musk’s recent takeover.
Bloomberg has reported that a number of senior leaders, including Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, have been fired, with Musk becoming interim CEO. Sarah Personette, chief customer officer, said she resigned Friday and her work access to Twitter was officially cut off Monday night. Employees are bracing for more widespread layoffs as soon as this week, with some managers spending the weekend compiling lists of employees to cut.
Whoever Musk picks to take over product will have an important role in shaping one of the world’s most influential online platforms. Musk has promised major changes at Twitter, including a greater focus on subscriptions, fewer content restrictions, and the possibility of multiple algorithms for different timelines. He’s also considering charging users for blue verification badges, according to Platformer.
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