Elon Musk plans to begin layoffs at Twitter Inc. as early as Saturday after completing his acquisition of the social media platform, the New York Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Managers have been asked to draw up lists of employees who will be cut, though the number of reductions couldn’t be determined, the newspaper said. The layoffs will take place before Nov 1, when employees were scheduled to receive stock grants.

On Sunday, Musk responded to a tweet about reports that he planned to fire workers by Tuesday to avoid paying stock grants, saying it was "false.” He didn’t elaborate.

Twitter employees have been bracing for layoffs since the deal was announced in April, and Musk floated the idea of cost cuts to banking partners when he was initially fundraising for the deal.

Some potential investors were told Musk plans to cut 75% of Twitter’s workforce, which now numbers about 7,500, and expects to double revenue within three years, a person familiar with the matter said earlier this month. Still, while visiting Twitter headquarters on Wednesday, Musk told employees that he didn’t plan to cut 75% of the staff when he took over the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

The billionaire has already let go of some top employees. Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Parag Agrawal was fired as chief executive officer, alongside Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal, policy and trust; Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal; and Sean Edgett, who has been general counsel at Twitter since 2012.

 - Bloomberg