Chaos. This is the strategy chosen by Elon Musk since its takeover of Twitter. The proof again with the dismissal of two developers live on the web. Since the arrival of the billionaire two weeks ago at the head of the blue bird, half of 7,000 box employees have already been fired or resigned. And it is not about to stop.
Recently, the ruler struck again. Indeed, Eric Frohnhoefer and Ben Leib, two engineers from the box, lost their jobs instantly. The reason ? The two men questioned the word of Elon Musk during a debate on the functioning of Twitter on the social network.
On November 13, Elon Musk apologized for poor performance of Twitter’s Android app “in several countries in recent days”. Eric Frohnhoefer then responded on the web: “I’ve spent about 6 years working on Twitter for Android and I can say it’s wrong”. Words that have been confirmed by Ben Leib who describes himself as “the former tech lead of timelines infrastructure at Twitter”. He also assures that his new boss has no “no idea what he’s talking about”. A debate that was extended by a series of messages.
The next day, Elon Musk fired his employee. “He is fired”, he tweeted laconically. A tweet that has since been deleted. In the process, Ben Leib confirmed to have experienced the same fate.
For Forbes, Eric Frohnhoefer explained the course of his dismissal. Five short hours after this debate, access to his computer was cut off. He also claims to have received no official communication from the leaders of the company about this forced departure. “They are cowards”, he told our colleagues, speaking of the management. He also gave details of the vibe at the company since Elon Musk took over. “No one trusts anyone in the company anymore”he continues. “This new governance is in a tumble. How could it still function in such a climate? Employees don’t trust management. While management doesn’t trust employees. I’m very worried about the near future from Twitter about how we treat workers.”
Proof that, if we knew that the leader did not like to be laughed at, he does not like to be contradicted either. A very difficult situation. Especially for a self-qualifying Elon Musk “free speech absolutist”.