Twitter Employee Speaks Out After Being Asked To Quit During Paternity Leave

A former high-ranking Twitter employee has spoken out after he was asked to resign during paternity leave.

Kayvon Beykpour, the social media giant's former head of consumer product, has now left alongside revenue product lead Bruce Falck.

It comes amid a tumultuous time for the company, particularly with Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover. However, in a Twitter thread, Beykpour didn't indicate the Tesla and SpaceX chief was a factor in his departure - it came from CEO Parag Agrawal himself.

mrs @pandemona and I are expecting our first baby in the next week! we’re filled with uncontainable excitement and also a little bit nervous! pic.twitter.com/tb6lrZjU5C

— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) March 29, 2022

Beykpour recently had a baby with his partner Sara. As well as announcing his paternity leave, he also tweeted that Jay Sullivan would be filling in his role in the interim.

A month-and-a-half later, Beykpour has now resigned from Twitter. "Interrupting my paternity leave to share some final @twitter-related news: I’m leaving the company after over seven years," he wrote.

"The truth is that this isn’t how and when I imagined leaving Twitter, and this wasn’t my decision. Parag asked me to leave after letting me know that he wants to take the team in a different direction.

"While I’m disappointed, I take solace in a few things: I am INSANELY proud of what our collective team achieved over the last few years, and my own contribution to this journey."

Beykpour cited how his team managed to help Twitter's daily active users rise by more than 87 percent since 2018, as well as shipping "bold and exciting new evolutions to the product... at a much much faster pace than anytime over the last decade."

While I’m disappointed, I take solace in a few things: I am INSANELY proud of what our collective team achieved over the last few years, and my own contribution to this journey.

— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) May 12, 2022

He continued: "I’m proud that we changed the perception around Twitter’s pace of innovation, and proud that we shifted the culture internally to make bigger bets, move faster, and eliminate sacred cows.

"To the hard working (current and former) Tweeps out there who made all this happen: Thank you for pouring your heart and soul into this place."

Ahead of Musk's planned takeover, Beykpour said he believes Twitter's "best days are still ahead of it. Twitter is one of the most important, unique and impactful products in the world. With the right nurturing and stewardship, that impact will only grow."

In a memo to staff, as reported by The New York Times, Agrawal announced a freeze on hiring and reductions on discretionary spending, but said there weren't any plans for layoffs. "It's critical to have the right leaders at the right time," he wrote.

LADbible has reached out to Twitter for comment.