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Billionaire Elon Musk reported fired one of Twitter's "two remaining principal engineers" for explaining why Musk's reach on the platform had dropped significantly since last April, when he first announced his intention to purchase Twitter.
According to a story published on Platformer—a website that specializes in tech industry news—the employee was fired after Musk asked Twitter's remaining top engineers why his own engagement appeared to have declined since he became owner despite having a follower count of 128 million.
Platformer cited multiple sources with direct knowledge of the meeting who said Musk called it "ridiculous" that he has "more than 100 million followers, and [he's] only getting tens of thousands of impressions.”
\u201cNEW: While Twitter is breaking, Elon Musk is holding meetings to interrogate engineers about why his engagement is tanking. On Tuesday, he publicly fired one for showing that the lack of engagement isn\u2019t a bug \u2014 he\u2019s just less popular than he used to be: https://t.co/orXAYv5yEq\u201d— Zo\u00eb Schiffer (@Zo\u00eb Schiffer) 1675972956
The engineer and others in attendance showed Musk a Google trends chart showing how interest in Musk's posts had declined from last April, when his bid to acquire Twitter reached peak "interest."
A furious Musk told the engineer "You're fired, you're fired" at a time when the number of people using Twitter has declined by nine percent, as users retreat from a platform that has lost much of its appeal since Musk's takeover.
The news Musk fired one of Twitter's top engineers did not go over well on his own platform.
\u201cYou can destroy a lot of value really quickly if you try hard enough https://t.co/6RmDlGrvnJ\u201d— Ben Eltham (@Ben Eltham) 1675978393
\u201c@ZoeSchiffer If Musk wants more likes on his Tweets he should have Stephen King write them for him.\u201d— Zo\u00eb Schiffer (@Zo\u00eb Schiffer) 1675972956
\u201c@ZoeSchiffer EM: \u201cWhy\u2019s my engagement tanking?\u201d \nAlso EM: *celebrates getting rid of bots on the platform*\n\nI don\u2019t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure this one out\u201d— Zo\u00eb Schiffer (@Zo\u00eb Schiffer) 1675972956
\u201c@ZoeSchiffer I blocked Musk. I got so tired of Twitter pushing every single one of his tweets into my feed multiple times, even though I didn't follow him. I wonder how many of us did the same? His effort to increase his engagement backfired.\u201d— Zo\u00eb Schiffer (@Zo\u00eb Schiffer) 1675972956
\u201cthis would be right in line with the stories from all of his other companies about how massive amounts of company resources end up being dedicating to babysitting elon musk\u2019s incredibly fragile ego for no business gain https://t.co/mmOGjc98qa\u201d— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@GOLIKEHELLMACHINE) 1675974021
\u201cThe man who values free speech highly fires employee on the spot because he/she said Musk's Twitter popularity is declining .\n\nhttps://t.co/tRHyPBR3kD\u201d— Paul van der Meer (@Paul van der Meer) 1676044907
\u201cStill hard to believe just how terrible Musk is as a manager.\n\nTwo principal engineers left at the company - who put up with micromanaging, long hours, sleeping in the office etc.\n\nAnd he rage fires one of them because... of his view counts?\n\nFull article: https://t.co/W2nZt9X3Xo\u201d— Gergely Orosz (@Gergely Orosz) 1676015477
\u201c@ZoeSchiffer I had to mute @elonmusk because he was spamming babble on my feed. Dude ain\u2019t that interesting.\u201d— Zo\u00eb Schiffer (@Zo\u00eb Schiffer) 1675972956
\u201c@ZoeSchiffer The idea that anyone could have possibly dethroned Donald Trump for the title of World's Most Gigantic Baby felt impossible. AND YET\u201d— Zo\u00eb Schiffer (@Zo\u00eb Schiffer) 1675972956
Musk officially acquired Twitter in October 2022 and has repeatedly insisted Twitter needs to go private if it wants to become a platform for free speech, though he has already come under fire for silencing his critics and spreading misinformation.
His stewardship of the company has sent advertisers scrambling and even prompted Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren to launch an inquiry into the harm Musk has caused to Tesla's investors since using Twitter as his "private plaything."
Moreover, a slew of chaotic policy decisions have further alienated the platform's users and Musk has walked back previous moves banning journalists while caving in to calls for him to appoint a new chief executive.