Elon Musk has told prospective investors in his A$70M Twitter deal that he plans to cull nearly 75 per cent of the company’s staff.

According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, Musk plans to fire roughly 5,500 of the 7,500-strong workforce, leaving roughly 2,000 employees.

While this may seem like reckless behaviour on Musk’s behalf, it echoes plans by current management to cut payroll by A$1.275 billion by the end of 2023 – which would be a reduction of 25 per cent; not as drastic, but still a substantial staff culling.

Musk told the same potential investors he plans to double the company’s revenue, and triple its daily user count, within three years.

Cutting an estimated A$3.8 billion a year from payroll will certainly be a good start.

Of course, this all hinges on whether the sale actually comes off.

Musk and Twitter have seven days in which to complete the deal, otherwise a previous lawsuit, filed by Twitter when Musk initially attempted to back out of the deal, will re-commence.