On Wednesday, Elon Musk said he intended to finish an organizational restructure this week and that he anticipated to spend less time at Twitter in the future. Eventually, he added, the social media business will need a new CEO.
Musk made these remarks while testifying in a Delaware court to defend against allegations that his $56 billion pay package at Tesla Inc was based on easy-to-attain performance targets and was approved by a compliant board of directors.
Investors at Tesla have grown more worried about the amount of time Musk is devoting to turning around Twitter.
At noon, Tesla shares fell 3%.
In his testimony, Musk indicated that after the acquisition, “There’s an initial burst of activity needed post-acquisition to reorganize the company. But then I expect to reduce my time at Twitter.”
Musk also acknowledged that certain Tesla engineers had been helping to evaluate Twitter’s engineering teams, but he insisted that this had been done “voluntary basis” and “after hours.”
The first two weeks of the billionaire’s ownership of Twitter have been characterized by rapid change and mayhem. The former CEO of Twitter and other top executives were swiftly sacked, and earlier this month, he laid off half of Twitter’s workforce.
Employees at Twitter were given until Thursday to decide whether they wanted to accept a three-month salary layoff plan or continue on at the firm to work “long hours at high intensity,” in a email from Musk that was delivered early on Wednesday.
