Musk has publicly goaded Twitter’s lesser-known leader on the social media platform and repeatedly threatened to pull out of the deal, citing concerns about the details of his fake accounts. Backed into a corner less than a year into his tenure, the enigmatic Agrawal is beginning to struggle in front of senior staff and the public, according to several current and former executives who spoke to the Financial Times on condition of anonymity. “Parag wants to push back more and is more aggressive internally,” said a former Twitter executive. “It looks like Twitter is willing to go to war to make this deal happen.” Behind closed doors, navigating the relationship seems less difficult. The two interact weekly in conversations that are casual and not competitive, according to people familiar with the situation. They are naturally aligned on many issues about how the company operates, two people said — including the need to diversify revenue, build a larger audience and even relax moderation rules to move away from permanent bans. Still, Agrawal’s critics are skeptical about how effective he will be as an unproven leader against an unpredictable opponent. Many cite the 38-year-old’s lack of leadership experience and the fact that his negotiating hand will weaken if Twitter’s business begins to deteriorate given the uncertainty. “Parag is in an impossible situation,” said Brian Wieser, global president of business intelligence at GroupM. “We still don’t know how serious Elon is many months later, but the company is committed to the sale.” Indian-born Agrawal has risen through Twitter’s ranks over the past decade and was named CEO in November after four years as chief technology officer. He joined after graduating with a PhD from Stanford University, interspersed with research internships at Microsoft, Yahoo and AT&T. As the company’s first “distinguished engineer”—a title that confers an important position in elite engineering circles—his intellect has earned him respect internally. “My experience with Parag has been impressive with his ability to know the details and have a broad understanding of issues that other leaders would pass over,” said Bruce Daisley, Twitter’s former European vice president. Emulating Silicon Valley founders like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, the soft-spoken Agrawal wears the same outfit to work every day – a black T-shirt and dark blue jeans – under the belief that minimalism yields extra productivity. At a private dinner for tech executives hosted by Salesforce chief Marc Benioff in May, Agrawal took to the floor to defend himself, according to two people familiar with the situation. Impressed guests then lined up to speak with him, one person said. Unlike his predecessor as CEO, quirky founder Jack Dorsey, Agrawal is largely unknown beyond the walls of Twitter and exclusive Silicon Valley dinner parties, making few public appearances and making little use of the platform itself, according to in his first few months in the role. “Parag feels more like an engineer put in charge of a product than someone with a vision,” said an advertising agency executive. “Twitter needs a leader to step up and make Twitter a market presence.” As a result, he faced skepticism from some board members, particularly regarding his lack of experience as the boss of a public company or head of large groups. According to several people, the board chose to implement a poison pill early in the negotiations to buy time in part to better understand Agrawal and his business plan for Twitter, as well as to consult with investors. Some investors expressed concerns about whether Agrawal could successfully implement his plan and therefore held back on a deal, two of the people said. The board also debated whether to allow Musk to make his offer directly to shareholders — but rejected that option in favor of negotiating the terms of the deal and deliberately building in some defenses and safeguards in case Musk changes his mind. Agrawal and the other board members have publicly expressed their desire to proceed with the deal at the price of $54.20 per share agreed with Musk. The San Francisco-based company told employees it expects to hold a shareholder vote on the deal by early August. But this could still prove challenging. Musk disputed Twitter’s estimate that less than 5 percent of accounts on its platform are spam, threatening to pull out of the deal if it wasn’t proven. The maneuvers have been interpreted by pundits and Twitter executives as Tesla’s boss seeking leverage in negotiations or as an excuse to try to scrap the deal altogether. Last month, Twitter agreed to allow Musk to access the “light pipe” of publicly available data about tweets that it typically sells to social media monitoring companies — a move that some felt Agrawal called Musk’s bluff. “The opening of it [data trove] it’s a classic Parag move to show — “we’re not going to turn a blind eye, we’ve got nothing to hide,” said another former Twitter executive. But on Thursday, the Washington Post reported that Musk’s team had concluded that the data was not verifiable, raising questions about his next move. So far, Musk has not directly addressed renegotiating the terms of the deal with Agrawal, according to a person familiar with the situation and confirmed in an email from Musk. Twitter declined to comment. Agrawal’s success may depend, in part, on whether he can keep the business financially sound so as not to give Musk negotiating leverage. Twitter has been criticized for sluggish growth, slow product innovation and a difficult advertising business amid a broader market slowdown. Its 2021 revenue was $5 billion compared to Meta’s $118 billion in sales. In its latest quarterly earnings, the company admitted it overstated its audience numbers by nearly 2 million users over about three years. After an initially low-key start, Agrawal has been more vocal and present in the office a few days a week, three people with knowledge of the business said, and they took a recent tour of several global headquarters. His focus was on overhauling Twitter’s management structure to encourage better performance and faster product availability in areas such as commerce. In May, it decided to freeze hiring and implement cost-cutting measures. It also fired two popular senior leaders in charge of advertising and product, shocking some employees — though others noted the moves came after user and revenue targets were breached.

He was honest with staff rather than trying to placate them, an approach that won over loyal longtime employees but didn’t settle younger carpenters, several employees said. If the deal goes through, Agrawal will likely be out of a job as Musk plans to replace him, according to media reports. However, Agrawal has multiple motivations for getting the deal done, beyond saving face and avoiding any potential escalation in the courts. He would walk away with a golden parachute worth $60.1 million if he was fired as part of the buyout, according to regulatory filings. On the other hand, if the sale falls apart, he could be tasked with reviving a company with a shattered stock price and low employee morale. “They hang over a gap. Because if the deal falls through, stocks will fall [and] then you’re looking at significant headcount reductions, which you have to cut back on,” said one former executive. Another former executive said he believed Agrawal was willing to become a “sacrificial lamb” for the company. Additional reporting by Cristina Criddle in London