'Not Working Just To Keep Lights On', Twitter's Parag Agrawal Responds On Being Called ‘Lame-Duck CEO’

“A lot has happened over the past several weeks. I’ve been focused on the company and haven't said much publicly during this time, but I will now,” said Agrawal.

New Delhi: In a series of posts shared on Saturday, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tried to clear his stance on the organisational restructuring, and responded to the charges of being a “lame-duck” CEO.

The 37-year-old Twitter head tweeted about the changes hours after Elon Musk once again shocked the market by saying that the $44 billion takeover deal was on hold. “A lot has happened over the past several weeks. I’ve been focused on the company and haven't said much publicly during this time, but I will now,” said Agrawal.

Responding to the major organisational shake-up, in which two senior Twitter executives exited the company, Agrawal said, “We announced changes to our leadership team and operations yesterday. Changes impacting people are always hard.”

Stating that he was accountable for leading the company even if he was called a lame-duck CEO, the Twitter head stressed about focusing on building a stronger company every day. “And some have been asking why a “lame-duck” CEO would make these changes if we’re getting acquired anyway. The short answer is very simple: While I expect the deal to close, we need to be prepared for all scenarios and always do what’s right for Twitter. I’m accountable for leading and operating Twitter, and our job is to build a stronger Twitter every day”, he tweeted.

Trying to convey the ethos of employees, Agrawal said, “No one at Twitter is working just to keep the lights on.”

“We take pride in our work. Regardless of the company’s future ownership, we’re here improving Twitter as a product and business for customers, partners, shareholders, and all of you. People have also asked: why manage costs now vs after close? Our industry is in a very challenging macro environment – right now. I won’t use the deal as an excuse to avoid making important decisions for the health of the company, nor will any leader at Twitter,” he added.

Tesla Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Elon Musk on Friday said the $44-billion acquisition of Twitter Inc. was temporarily on hold, citing pending details on spam and fake accounts. However, after a few hours, Musk again tweeted saying that he is committed to acquisition of the micro-blogging site. In a tweet, the Tesla CEO said, "Still committed to acquisition".

In pre-market trading, shares of the social media firm tanked 20 per cent after the announcement by Musk. However, after the second announcement, shares recouped some of the losses. At 6.45 pm IST, shares of Twitter were at 39.81, down 11.69 per cent in the pre-market trading.