Elon Musk tells Twitter employees headcount will be rationalized -virtual staff meeting

Elon Musk addressed Twitter employees for the first time on Thursday, projecting a need for "rationalization of headcount" but offering few other new details about the $44 billion takeover of the social media company.

Musk said he wants to raise the service's user numbers to at least a billion people and said advertising would remain important for the company, according to audio of the meeting heard by Reuters.

Musk reached a deal to acquire Twitter in April, but he has clashed with the company repeatedly since then. Musk said he was putting the deal on hold on May 13, something he may not have the legal authority to do unilaterally. Musk said he needed more data from the company about automated spam bot accounts on the service. Twitter has reported its bot estimates accompanied with an admission that they may be too low to securities regulators for years.

The billionaire has also implicitly criticized the Twitter workforce, as when he mocked the company's generous work-from-home policy by suggesting that its headquarters could be turned into a homeless shelter because, he said, so few employees actually work there.

Twitter employees could have other reasons to be nervous about Musk's impending takeover. The irascible billionaire has levied a barrage of criticism at the company's moderation and safety policies, which he terms a threat to free speech and its ban of former President Donald Trump following the January 6, 2020 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which he has pledged to reverse.

Musk, the world's richest person according to Forbes magazine, is trying to buy Twitter for $44 billion.

Twitter shares rose roughly 5% in post-market trading, after closing up 2% on Wednesday.