An ousted senior Twitter engineer blasted Elon Musk on his way out the door, accusing the billionaire of installing a “Vichy government” after taking over the embattled social media platform.
Taylor Leese, Twitter’s senior director of platform services and an outspoken critic of Musk’s takeover, revealed Sunday that he “just got fired” by the company. Leese also aimed some choice words at Musk’s team and its planned reshuffling after the Tesla boss closed the $44 billion deal for the social media site Thursday
“The ongoing layoff process is a complete farce and an embarrassment,” Leese tweeted. “It’s a bunch of Tesla goons making decisions about people they know nothing about other that number of code commits. It’s complete absurdity.”
Leese took another jab at Musk after a former co-worker described him as one of the “most genuine leaders.”
“They’re not looking for genuine in this Vichy government,” Leese replied.
Leese had worked at Twitter since May 2015, according to his LinkedIn account. Prior to his role as senior director of platform services, Leese was the company’s director of software engineering.
The Post has reached out to Leese and Twitter for comment on the situation.
While Leese did not provide specific details about his apparent dismissal, the ex-Twitter director had shared a number of posts critical of Musk in the last few days
He also retweeted multiple posts addressing the possibility that the billionaire could lay off some Twitter employees just before they were due to receive equity grants that vest on Tuesday.
Leese cryptically hinted at discord in a tweet hours before he was ousted.
“We’re nearing the find out stage of f–k around and find out,” he wrote.
Musk is widely expected to enact mass layoffs at Twitter as he looks to cut costs and revamp the social media company’s business. The Washington Post reported that Musk’s team was aiming to slash 25% of its approximately 7,500 staffers in an initial round of layoffs beginning this week.
Musk personally denied a New York Times report suggesting he was aiming to avoid making equity payouts to Twitter employees.
Musk’s takeover of Twitter had reportedly prompted a mass exodus of employees in recent months. Critics have alleged that Musk’s emphasis on free speech will embolden far-right voices on the platform.
Meanwhile, the possibility of major layoffs has dominated the conversation around Musk’s early days at Twitter. Last week, a pair of pranksters duped several media outlets into reporting that the layoffs had already begun.
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