Following Elon Musk’s message to Twitter that he plans to buy the company from his $44 billion deal, employees have been instructed not to comment publicly on the deal. An internal memo from the Twitter General Council and obtained by: The edge says staffers “must refrain from tweeting, slacking off or commenting on the merger agreement.”
The note, which you can read in full below, states that the merger is an pending legal matter. Musk’s team claims the company “failed or refused” to provide information about the number of bots on its platform, and the Twitter board has announced it is suing Musk to ensure the deal goes through as originally agreed.
After news broke on Friday that Musk wanted to get out of the deal, Twitter employees quickly made some pretty humorous tweets about the situation. One tweeted that they “unilaterally canceled my mortgage” and were glad they didn’t have to pay it anymore, citing it’s very unclear whether Musk can legally just say “no” and walk away. Another tweet referred to a staff trip to Disney that was canceled as a cost-cutting measure after the Musk deal was announced.
Here’s the memo that Sean Edgett, Twitter’s general counsel, sent to staff on Friday:
Team,
Today we received notice of alleged termination from Elon Musk, and the Twitter Board issued the following statement in response (see our Chairman Bret Taylor’s Tweet here):
“The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction at the price and terms agreed with Mr. Musk and plans to take legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident that we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.”
As this is an ongoing legal matter, please refrain from tweeting, slacking off or commenting on the merger agreement. We will continue to share information when we are able, but know that we will be very limited in what we can share in the meantime.
I know this is an uncertain time and we appreciate your patience and continued commitment to the important work we have underway.