Where did everyone from Twitter go?

It’s been a tumultuous five months for Twitter since Elon Musk took over the company, with layoffs and resignations making headlines. Elon’s takeover of Twitter ushered both brutal waves of layoffs and the exodus of talent. There are often dramatic changes after takeovers, but rarely has the industry seen the ferocity of the events at Twitter. First came the existing executives, then came the rank and file. Some by layoffs and some by choice. The stories abound from having managers list their best employees for promotion then firing them to the recent firings of even Elon loyalists who took up the “SleepWhereYouWork” mantra only to be fired. 

Now that the dust has settled and the chess pieces have been rearranged we wanted to know what happened to everyone who left? Where did they go? Who lost and who won the war for Twitter talent? To find out, we analyzed what happened to 1,434 employees no longer at Twitter, individuals who had dedicated themselves to building one of the world's most popular social media platforms. 

Here’s what we learned…

Who is out

• 62% of those no longer at Twitter had Director titles and above, including 382 Managers, 25 Senior Managers, 16 Senior Directors, 7 VPs and famously 5 C-level executives.

• Elon’s cuts were across the board most drastically IT, product, marketing and executives, but impacting nearly every corner of Twitter’s operations.

Where did most people go?

On a macro level, Twitter’s top talent migrated to other tech firms with Google, TikTok, Reddit, Spotify, Netflix, AirBnB and Apple leading the pack. 

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The data revealed two interesting things: 

• Loyalty isn’t dead. In a move that shows that loyalty isn’t dead, a number of Twitter faithful decided to leave Elon’s Twitter for the familiarity of Jack’s Block. 
• A back-door is open. Despite announcements of hiring freezes, a number of companies kept a back door open to take advantage of the talent leaving Twitter, welcoming strategic talent into their ranks.
• Fueling the competition Knowingly or unknowingly, layoffs at Twitter also fueled a migration of talent to Twitter’s social media competitors, with TikTok and Reddit as the biggest recipients of talent with Snap, Meta and Pinterest behind them. 

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Where did the executives go?

Peeling the executive data further reveals the top companies joined by former Twitter executives:

A New Twitter Mafia?

Is it possible that Elon, himself a product of the PayPal Mafia, might have created a new ‘Twitter Mafia’ by laying off and pushing off top talent at Twitter? That’s what Alphonzo Tyrell, former Global Head of Social and Editorial and the founders of the Spill App hopes. So do the the founders of a string of new companies like SUKHIBA, Jackscrew, Gymmate and Hyperviolet. 

It will be interesting to see how the venture community and the market embrace former executives who joined stealth startups including Arnaud Weber former VP of Engineering for Consumer Products, John Barnett former Product Lead of Twitters Communities product, Scott Swensen former Sr. Data Scientist for Twitter’s Healthcare Team, Diem Nguyen former Data Scientist, Peter Clowes former Senior Software Engineer and Ravi Kiran Holur Vijay former Machine Learning Senior Manager who has co-founded a Generative AI startup.

Moves of note

Some salient executive moves of note included: 

• Leslie Berland, former CMO at Twitter who joined Peloton as CMO. 
• Damien Kieran, former Chief Privacy Officer who joined BeReal as General Counsel.
• Alan Rosa, former Chief Information Security Officer forTwitter Payments who joined Starbucks as SVP Global Infrastructure & Foundational Services.
• Maryann Vellanikaran, former Chief of Staff, Consumer Engineering joined Health and Wellness company Noom as Head of Product Engineering.
• Yonatan Zunger former Distinguished Engineer who joined Microsoft as CVP & CTO of Identity and Network Access.

Leaving the Tech Industry

More than a third of Twitter’s executives joined companies outside of tech. From Peloton to American Express, to Warner Media to the MIT Center for Constructive Communication. Maybe people had it with the volatility of the past year and are seeking greener pastures.

What’s Next?

Twitter's top talent has been spread across the tech industry and beyond. The impact of Elon’s acquisition is yet to be determined for Twitter, but what’s certain is the story of Twitter’s departed talent has just begun to be written and it’s likely to usher in an era of creativity that will be fun to watch.

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