Twitter sacked two of its top execs on Friday, the latest hint of internal strife as the firm prepares to be bought out by Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.
Kayvon Beykpour, the general manager of Twitter, is retiring after seven years.
Beykpour stated in a series of tweets on Thursday that CEO Parag Agrawal asked him to quit after telling him he wanted to lead the team in a different path.
According to a tweet that has since been deleted, Twitter’s revenue and product lead, Bruce Falck, was also sacked. Unemployed is now his Twitter bio.
I dedicate this Tweet to those engineers, and I thank you for allowing me to serve alongside you. It’s been fantastic. Falck tweeted, “There’s a lot more to accomplish, so go back to work. I can’t wait to see what you make.”
Twitter confirmed both departures and said it is halting most hiring, with the exception of mission-critical positions. We are also cutting non-labor costs to guarantee we are being responsible and efficient, according to a statement.
According to his Twitter bio, Beykpour was the general manager of consumer Twitter, overseeing design, research, product, engineering, customer support, and operations teams.
Beykpour, a co-founder of the live broadcasting software Periscope, joined Twitter in 2015 after the social media company purchased his startup.
I hope and believe that Twitter’s best days are still to come. Twitter is one of the world’s most important, original, and influential products.
That impact will only expand with the correct cultivation and stewardship, he wrote on Twitter.
Beykpour did not respond to a request for comment right away.
Agrawal claimed in a note addressed to staff and acknowledged by Twitter that the company has not met growth and revenue targets since aggressively investing to develop its user base and income.
Twitter’s stock fell 86 cents to USD45.23 at lunchtime Thursday in San Francisco. Musk’s bid price of USD45.20 per share is merely 3 cents higher.
To read our blog on “Twitter users are reporting a massive drop in followers,” click here.
