Twitter CEO fires top execs, freezes hiring

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced a number of changes in the company through an internal memo to employees. These include the decision to push out two of its top executives, implement a hiring freeze, and reduce expenses. These big shake-ups came ahead of Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company later this year. 

Among the changes in Twitter leadership is the decision to push out the head of the consumer division, Kayvon Beykpur, and the head of revenue, Bruce Falck. Jay Sullivan will be the new head of the consumer division. He will also serve as the interim manager of revenue. Sullivan is a former Facebook director who joined the company in November. 

Beykpour confirmed this with his announcement on Twitter, saying that he is leaving Twitter after over 7 years, stating that it was not his decision and not how he envisioned leaving the company. This decision came only months after Agrawal reorganized the executive team, where the exit of design and engineering leads left the top position in consumer products to Beykpour. It was in 2015 that Beykpour joined Twitter after the Periscope acquisition, a live streaming company in which he was a co-founder. In 2018, he became the head of consumer product in the larger company, overseeing productive years of feature launches. 

Meanwhile, Falck also made a confirmation through a now-deleted tweet. He thanked the engineers he worked with, saying that “it’s the work that matters.” Agrawal noted that under Falck’s leadership, the company rebuilt its ad server and anchored the evolving of its ads business’ foundation to be more performance-based. Even though Sullivan is to serve as interim GM of revenue, the company is on the lookout for a new head to replace Falck.  

Agrawal also stated in the memo that “it is critical to have the right leaders at the right time.” At this time, Twitter admits that the company is in a ton of changes historically, although Twitter often is. It also revealed that the company failed to achieve intermediate milestones that enable confidence in the goal of having a big audience and revenue growth. It further cited macroeconomic challenges such as the conflict in Ukraine. Additionally, it is in the middle of the Musk acquisition, where the timing of its closing is still uncertain. As such, the company needs to be intentional with its teams, hiring, and expenses.  

Moreover, the company plans to slash expenses on non-labor costs. This includes a reduction of spends on contractors and consulting, travel and events, marketing, and other operational costs.

The company will also pause on hiring and backfills, with the exception of those that are critical to the business. The memo, however, indicates that there is no plan for company-wide layoffs. Nonetheless, it could be expected that there will be changes in the organization as may be necessary in order to enhance efficiency.