Musk Leaves Twitter Staff Without Equity Plan as Deadline Looms

Shortly after Elon Musk bought Twitter last fall, he promised Twitter staff that they could look forward to the kind of stock rewards employees at SpaceX—another private company Musk runs—enjoy. But as Musk’s ownership of Twitter nears the end of its third month, he has yet to release details of the new stock compensation plan, according to several employees.

Employees at meetings have started to ask about performance bonuses, including a bonus Twitter as a public company previously awarded staff in the spring, according to people familiar with the discussions. Such awards would be particularly attractive given the “extremely hardcore” work culture Musk said employees must accept. The lack of details could further endanger Musk’s ability to hang onto the Twitter staff that will develop the new products key to reversing Twitter’s sinking revenue.

Already, Musk faces another exodus of staff after Feb. 1, the day when employees can cash out more of the stock awards they held from before he took Twitter private in late October.