- Twitter’s offices abruptly closed down Thursday night amid reports of impending mass resignations.
- But Elon Musk tweeted through the chaos.
- The tech billionaire cracked a joke on Twitter amid looming questions about the company’s fate.
Company officials told employees that all Twitter buildings were temporarily closed and that their badge access would be revoked, Insider confirmed Thursday. The reason behind the unexpected closure was that Musk was concerned employees would “sabotage the company,” Platformer’s Zo Schiffer reported.
As a deluge of mournful hashtags trended on Twitter Thursday evening, including #GoodbyeTwitter, #RIPTwitter, and #TwitterDown, Musk was keeping things light.
“How do you make a small fortune in social media?” he tweeted. “Start out with a large one.”
—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in October after months of legal back-and-forths. He quickly began cleaning house and firing top Twitter executives.
In his first company-wide email earlier this month, Musk told employees that they could no longer work remotely and would need to prepare to promptly return to the office. He later clarified that they could remain at home with their manager’s approval.
He also offered the company’s remaining 4,000 or so employees a choice: commit to Musk’s “extremely hardcore” version of “Twitter 2.0” or be considered part of a voluntary layoff.
When the deadline rolled around Thursday at 5 p.m. ET, less than half of the company’s staffers had chosen to sign up for Musk’s new vision, Insider’s Kali Hayes reported, taking the billionaire by surprise.
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