Report: Twitter ‘rudderless’ as Elon Musk’s legal battle escalates

According to several current and former employees, Twitter is grappling with falling morale as a company, layoffs and cuts in advertiser spending as Elon Musk’s hiring lawsuit continues. A former executive described the company as “unmanageable”, while a current employee said, “Everyone is disappointed with the leadership.”

Financial Times The social media website reported that Twitter is fighting a legal battle with Tesla CEO Elon Musk as company morale plummets, layoffs and marketers cut back on advertising spending, affecting the company’s advertising business by $4.5 billion a year. One of the former leaders said Sometimes Twitter looks “a little out of control”. He added that the company was “forced to do something they didn’t want to do at the whim of a rich man.”

This has been said by insiders and ad industry leaders. Financial Times Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal is leading an ongoing effort to keep the company afloat as he continues his legal battle to stop Musk from walking away from the $44 billion Twitter buyout deal.

In recent months, Agrawal has reportedly been trying to spend extra time with advertisers answering their questions. Twitter reportedly blames “uncertainty” about Musk’s takeover and the sharp drop in digital ad spending as one of the many reasons for the drop in revenue in the second quarter.

Tensions between staff and management have also reportedly increased after Musk announced his takeover bid in April. In early July, Twitter laid off about 30% of its talent team. The company also introduced a hiring moratorium and cost-cutting measures. On Tuesday, the company said it “significantly slowed hiring” and “increased our hiring rate” in the second quarter.

“Everyone is disappointed with the leadership,” said a senior Twitter official. “Twitter said, ‘This guy is amazing. [but] He has to run the company. Either way, the loser seems to take Twitter. ”

Read more Financial Times here.