Don't know what direction Twitter will go in: CEO Parag Agrawal tells anxious employees

Twitterrsquos Indiaborn CEO Parag Agrawal has told worried employees that he doesnrsquot know ldquowhat direction this company will go inrdquo once the whopping USD 44 billion deal which will take the social media giant private closes with new owner billionaire Elon MuskThe remarks by Agrawal who took over the helm of the social networking giant just five months ago came during a meeting with Twitter employees on Monday afternoon after the company said it had accepted Muskrsquos offer to buy it for about USD 44 billionldquoItrsquos important to acknowledge that all of you have many different feelings about what is happeningrdquo The New York Times newspaper quoted Agrawal as saying The American daily which listened to the meeting said that Agrawal told employees that he estimated the deal might take three to six months to completeldquoIn this moment we operate Twitter as we always have he said adding that ldquohow we run the company the decisions we make and the positive changes we drive mdash that will be on us and under our controlrdquo Uncertainty now hangs over the fate of Twitter employees who voiced concern over layoffs in the wake of the acquisition by MuskThe NYT report added that it is unclear how handson Musk plans to be at Twitter ldquoAmong the unanswered issues are whom he might pick to lead the company and how involved he would be in running the servicerdquo it said adding that Agrawal is ldquoexpected to remain in charge at least until the deal closesrdquo The NYT report added that in the employee meeting Agrawal acknowledged the uncertainty aheadldquoOnce the deal closes we donrsquot know what direction this company will go inrdquo 37yearold Agarwal said Upon completion of the transaction Twitter will become a privately held companyThe transaction which has been unanimously approved by the Twitter Board of Directors is expected to close in 2022 subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions On Monday as Twitter Chairman Bret Taylor announced that Tesla and SpaceX founder Musk will acquire the company Agrawal tweeted ldquoTwitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more importantrdquo The NYT report said that in the meeting with Twitter employees Agrawal and Taylor ldquonodded to the emotions of the day and how workers were most likely processing the news of a salerdquo Agrawal said compensation would remain largely the same under Musk but ldquohe did not make the same assurances about Twitterrsquos policies and culturerdquo the NYT report saidAgrawal told employees that their stock options would convert to cash when the deal closes Employees would receive their same benefits packages for a year after the deal was finalised the NYT report said In response to a question about whether former President Donald Trump who was permanently suspended from the social networking site in January 2021 would be allowed back on the platform Agrawal said ldquoWe constantly evolve our policiesrdquo Following the acquisition Musk the worlds wealthiest person said ldquoFree speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features making the algorithms open source to increase trust defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans Twitter has tremendous potential ndash I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it the 50yearold Tesla CEO saidThe social media sitersquos cofounder Jack Dorsey who had stepped down in November last year had declared that his ldquotrust in Agrawal ldquoas our CEO is bone deeprdquo when he had named the Indiaborn executive as Twitterrsquos new CEO on November 29 2021 Dorsey had said that after almost 16 years at the company he had decided it was finally time for him to leave and the first reason he had given for why it was the ldquoright timerdquo for his departure was ldquoParag becoming our CEO The board ran a rigorous process considering all options and unanimously appointed Parag Hes been my choice for some time given how deeply he understands the company and its needs Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around Hes curious probing rational creative demanding selfaware and humble He leads with heart and soul and is someone I learn from daily My trust in him as our CEO is bone deep Dorsey had saidAgrawal had said in a note posted on Twitter that he was ldquohonoured and humbledrdquo by his appointment and expressed gratitude to Dorseyrsquos ldquocontinued mentorship and your friendshiprdquo An IIT Bombay and Stanford alumnus Agrawal had joined Twitter 10 years ago when there were fewer than 1000 employees ldquoWhile it was a decade ago those days feel like yesterday to me Ive walked in your shoes Ive seen the ups and downs the challenges and obstacles the wins and the mistakes But then and now above all else I see Twitters incredible impact our continued progress and the exciting opportunities ahead of usrdquo he had said in the post following his appointmentldquoOur purpose has never been more important Our people and our culture are unlike anything in the world There is no limit to what we can do togetherrdquo he had said ldquoWe recently updated our strategy to hit ambitious goals and I believe that strategy to be bold and right But our critical challenge is how we work to execute against it and deliver results thats how well make Twitter the best it can be for our customers shareholders and for each of yourdquo ldquoThe world is watching us right now even more than they have before Lots of people are going to have lots of different views and opinions about todays news It is because they care about Twitter and our future and its a signal that the work we do here mattersrdquo Agrawal had saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever