elon musk: Jack Dorsey, Peter Thiel said to be behind Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover: WSJ report

According to a detailed report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Twitter cofounder and former CEO Jack Dorsey “whispered” in Elon Musk‘s ear that the social media network should be a private company, and his other billionaire friends pushed him to pursue the takeover offer that he eventually completed.

Others,
according to the WSJ, encouraged Musk’s Twitter interest behind the scenes, particularly those who were dissatisfied with the content filtering judgments at the microblogging site.

This group includes the so-called PayPal mafia—former PayPal founders and executives such as Musk, Peter Thiel,
Reid Hoffman,
Roelof Botha, Max Levchin. Along with them others who agree with Musk’s strong anti-censorship beliefs, which they say run opposed to Twitter’s current management style, also supported the takeover.

Musk’s relationship with Dorsey was evident over a period of time, the WSJ reported. The former Twitter CEO has publicly supported Musk’s purchase.

According to Dorsey, Musk is a “singular solution” for Twitter.

Twitter officials who spoke to the Journal said both Musk and Dorsey believed that the social media platform would be better off as a privately held company. They also said the microblogging site should be viewed less as a profit machine and more as a public good.

Musk’s $44 billion deal to buy the social media company sent shockwaves among the company’s employees.

During a company-wide meeting on Friday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal attempted to calm employee rage by
answering questions about how managers prepared to handle a mass exodus spurred by Musk.

“I’m tired of hearing about shareholder value and fiduciary duty. What are your honest thoughts about the very high likelihood that many employees will not have jobs after the deal closes?” one Twitter employee asked Agrawal, in a question read aloud during the meeting.

Agrawal said Twitter has always cared about its employees and would continue to do so.

“I believe the future Twitter organization will continue to care about its impact on the world and its customers,” he said.

Musk has pitched lenders on slashing board and executive salaries but exact cost cuts remain unclear.

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