Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey speaks out after mass layoffs

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey apologized Saturday for growing the corporate “too quickly,” a day after the corporate laid off roughly half of its employees under recent owner Elon Musk.

“Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They are going to all the time discover a way irrespective of how difficult the moment,” Dorsey wrote in a tweet. “I realize many are indignant with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone seems to be in this case: I grew the corporate size too quickly. I apologize for that.”

As of June 30, 2013, shortly before the social media company went public, Twitter had roughly 2,000 employees, in accordance with documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. By the top of last yr, the corporate reported greater than 7,500 full-time employees.

After Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk took ownership of Twitter on Oct. 28, the corporate launched into a steep reduction in its workforce. Twitter informed employees Thursday evening that it will begin shedding staff members, in accordance with communications obtained by CNBC. 

The cuts affected a complete of 983 employees in California, its home state, in accordance with three letters of notice that the corporate sent to regional authorities, which were obtained by CNBC.

Musk wrote in a tweet on Friday afternoon, “Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there isn’t any selection when the corporate is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% greater than legally required.”

Twitter’s reduction in force prolonged beyond California, and CNBC couldn’t immediately confirm whether Musk’s description is accurate. A lack of $4 million per day at the corporate would represent an annual loss around $1.5 billion.

Dorsey co-founded Twitter in 2006 alongside Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. Dorsey held the highest job twice throughout leadership changes and stepped down as CEO last yr. The corporate’s then-chief technology officer Parag Agrawal succeeded Dorsey as CEO before leaving as a part of Musk’s takeover.

Dorsey has since shifted his focus to solely managing his payments company Block, formerly often known as Square. He has been an outspoken advocate of Musk’s takeover, writing in a tweet that “That is the precise path… I feel it with all my heart.”

—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny and Jonathan Vanian contributed to this report.