Musk to sign takeover deal as Twitter employees slam his layoff threat

San Francisco, Oct 26 (IANS) Elon Musk has reportedly told investors and bankers that he is going to close the $44 billion Twitter takeover deal by Friday, as employees at the micro-blogging platform protest his plan to fire 75 per cent of the Twitter workforce.

Musk must complete the acquisition by Friday or face the lawsuit at a Delaware court in the US, as per the deadline given by the judge.

The world's richest man, who has raised $13 billion as loan from banks and lenders to go ahead with the takeover deal, is set to sign the papers necessary to get the deal closed, according to reports.

Meanwhile, a Time report said that Twitter employees have written an open letter to the board of directors and Musk, criticising his plans to lay off 75 per cent of the workforce.

"Musk's plan to lay off 75 per cent of Twitter workers will hurt Twitter's ability to serve the public conversation. A threat of this magnitude is reckless, undermines our users' and customers' trust in our platform, and is a transparent act of worker intimidation," the draft letter read.

"We believe the public conversation is in jeopardy," they added.

Twitter has significant effects on societies and communities across the globe.

"A threat to workers at Twitter is a threat to Twitter's future. These threats have an impact on us as workers and demonstrate a fundamental disconnect with the realities of operating Twitter. They threaten our livelihoods, access to essential healthcare, and the ability for visa holders to stay in the country they work in," the employees said in the open letter.

They called on Twitter management and Musk to "cease these negligent layoff threats".

"As workers, we deserve concrete commitments so we can continue to preserve the integrity of our platform," they said.