Elon Musk acquires Twitter for $44 billion lays off half of 7,500 employees

Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter on October 28, 2022, declaring "the bird is freed." Within a week, Musk fired roughly half of Twitter's 7,500 employees, approximately 3,700 workers. The layoffs disproportionately affected teams focused on trust and safety, policy, communications, human rights, accessibility, AI ethics, and content curation. Yoel Roth, head of trust and safety, confirmed the cuts eliminated 15% of his team. The layoffs came as advertisers pulled spending amid concerns about content moderation ahead of the U.S. midterms.