Several executives quit as hate content on Elon Musk’s Twitter waves: Report

Elon Musk’s Twitter saga: Several Twitter officials leave, gutting top management

In a growing exodus of Twitter’s top management, officials, including its advertising and marketing chiefs, left the company in recent days, according to statements and a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

The departures come after billionaire Elon Musk̵[ads1]7;s takeover of the $44 billion company last week, followed by his firing of CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde, Reuters reported, citing sources.

Sarah Personette, who was chief customer and ad chief, tweeted Tuesday that she was stepping down last week, adding to advertisers’ uncertainty about how the social media company will change under Musk.

Chief People and Diversity Officer Dalana Brand announced Tuesday in a LinkedIn post that she had also resigned last week. General manager of core technology Nick Caldwell confirmed his departure on Twitter, changing his profile bio to “former Twitter CEO” on Monday night.

Chief marketing officer Leslie Berland, Twitter’s chief product officer Jay Sullivan and its vice president of global sales, Jean-Philippe Maheu, have also left, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. It was not immediately clear if they quit or were asked to leave.

Berland tweeted a blue heart but did not provide details.

Caldwell declined further comment. The other five did not respond to requests for comment.

Several employees who spoke to Reuters said they still receive little communication about the future of the company. An all-staff meeting scheduled for Wednesday was canceled after Twitter canceled a check-in call last week.

Musk’s team is meeting with advertisers this week in New York, as the company’s increasingly unscrupulous clients raise concerns about the potential for malicious content to appear alongside their ads.

Hateful content has skyrocketed since Musk ended the deal. Use of the n-word has increased by nearly 500% on Twitter, said the Network Contagion Research Institute, which identifies “cybersocial threats.”

A coalition of more than 40 advocacy organizations, including the NAACP and the Free Press, sent an open letter to Twitter’s top 20 advertisers on Tuesday, asking them to pull their ads if Musk tolerates content moderation on the platform.

Mediabrands, a unit of ad holding company IPG, has advised its clients to pause advertising on Twitter for the next week until the company provides more details about its plans to protect trust and security on the platform, according to a source familiar with the matter.

IPG works with major advertisers such as Coca-Cola.

Musk has tried to reassure advertisers. “Twitter’s commitment to brand safety remains unchanged,” he tweeted Monday.

He previously said he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former President Donald Trump, who was fired over concerns he could incite further violence after last year’s US Capitol uprising.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)