Published - November 9, 2022 @ 5:03 PM (EET)

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Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to begin widespread job cuts, joining Salesforce Inc. as it cut hundreds of workers from sales teams, seeking to improve profitability while facing slowing demand. Elsewhere, Billionaire Elon Musk unloaded another batch of Tesla Inc. shares to help fund his Twitter Inc. buyout.

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Here's what's trending in today's markets:

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1. Meta to Begin Widespread Job Cuts Wednesday Morning

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Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is planning to begin widespread job cuts on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter, part of a plan to reduce costs at the social media giant following disappointing earnings and a drop in revenue.

Employees who are affected will be told starting Wednesday morning. CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke to executives on Tuesday to prepare them for the cuts, saying he was accountable for the company’s “missteps,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Zuckerberg warned employees in late September that Meta intended to slash expenses and restructure teams.

The cuts are expected to affect about 10% of the more than 87,000 employees, reflecting a sharp slowdown in digital advertising revenue, an economy wobbling on the brink of recession, and Zuckerberg’s heavy investment in a speculative virtual-reality push called the metaverse.

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2. Musk Sells Another Batch of Tesla Shares Despite Vows to Stop

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‍Billionaire Elon Musk unloaded another batch of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares to help fund his buyout of Twitter Inc., bringing his sales of the electric-vehicle maker’s stock to about $36 billion in the past year.

According to regulatory filings late Tuesday, Musk disposed of 19.5 million shares worth $3.95 billion in the latest transactions.  The filings come despite assurances from Tesla’s chief executive officer and single-largest shareholder that he was done offloading the stock.

While it’s not fully clear how the $44 billion deal ultimately was financed, and though several high-profile individuals promised to invest some $7 billion, whether all of them stuck to their pledges remains to be seen.

Of the $36 billion worth of shares, Musk has sold, around half of that has come since he went public with the Twitter buyout plan.

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3. Salesforce seeks profitability, Cuts Hundreds of Sales Workers

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Salesforce Inc.(NYSE:CRM) has cut hundreds of workers from sales teams, seeking to improve profitability while facing slowing demand for its software products in a choppy economy.

Salesforce, the largest private-sector employer in its hometown of San Francisco, has almost tripled its workforce in the past five years. After years of focusing on revenue growth, the company has pivoted and turned its attention to a new profit margin target of 25% by 2026.

Last month, activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a stake in the company, saying the top maker of customer management software was falling behind its peers due to issues with translating growth into profitability.

Protocol earlier reported the job cuts at Salesforce, saying that the company is planning to fire about 2,000 people “or more,” likely before Thanksgiving.

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