Elon Musk Visits Twitter Headquarters in San Francisco Ahead of Friday Deal Deadline

“Entering Twitter HQ—let that sink in!” Mr. Musk tweeted, along with a video of himself walking into Twitter’s headquarters carrying a white basin.

The billionaire also changed the bio description on his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit” and added his location as “Twitter HQ.”

“Elon is in the SF office this week meeting with folks, walking the halls, and continuing to dive in on the important work you all do,” said the note from

Leslie Berland,

Twitter’s chief marketing officer. “If you’re in SF and see him around, say hi!”

The deal appears on track to close after months of twists and turns, with a Friday deadline set by a Delaware judge who has overseen a legal fight over the deal. If Mr. Musk doesn’t complete the transaction by Friday, the judge said she would schedule a trial for November.

Mr. Musk’s looming takeover of the social-media platform has roiled many Twitter employees, who have faced months of uncertainty. Mr. Musk initially agreed to buy Twitter in April, then tried to back out of the deal, before reversing course earlier this month and saying he would proceed with the transaction.

While Mr. Musk has floated a number of proposals for Twitter, many specific details remain unclear, including potential layoffs.

Mr. Musk previously spoke to employees during a virtual meeting in June. During that meeting, he didn’t rule out layoffs and said he was concerned about costs exceeding revenue at Twitter, according to people who viewed the meeting. He also said anyone who is a significant contributor shouldn’t have anything to worry about, according to the people.

Twitter had more than 7,500 employees at the start of this year. In April, as Mr. Musk was moving to buy Twitter, entrepreneur and Musk supporter

Jason Calacanis

suggested cutting the number of Twitter employees to roughly 3,000, according to messages between him and Mr. Musk, which were released as part of the court case over the stalled deal.

Twitter employees, in addition to dealing with the usual uncertainty while working at a takeover target, also watched their proposed acquirer criticize the company on its own platform over issues including its content-moderation policies and its handling of spam and fake accounts.

More recently, as the court-appointed deadline approached to complete his acquisition of the social-media platform or resume litigation over the stalled deal, Mr. Musk started to talk up the company and its prospects, after having accused it of fraud.

“I’m excited about the Twitter situation because obviously I know the product incredibly well and I think it’s an asset that has sort of languished for a long time but has incredible potential,” Mr. Musk said this month during an earnings call for

Tesla Inc.,

where he’s chief executive.

Write to Alexa Corse at alexa.corse@wsj.com

“Entering Twitter HQ—let that sink in!” Mr. Musk tweeted, along with a video of himself walking into Twitter’s headquarters carrying a white basin.

The billionaire also changed the bio description on his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit” and added his location as “Twitter HQ.”

“Elon is in the SF office this week meeting with folks, walking the halls, and continuing to dive in on the important work you all do,” said the note from

Leslie Berland,

Twitter’s chief marketing officer. “If you’re in SF and see him around, say hi!”

The deal appears on track to close after months of twists and turns, with a Friday deadline set by a Delaware judge who has overseen a legal fight over the deal. If Mr. Musk doesn’t complete the transaction by Friday, the judge said she would schedule a trial for November.

Mr. Musk’s looming takeover of the social-media platform has roiled many Twitter employees, who have faced months of uncertainty. Mr. Musk initially agreed to buy Twitter in April, then tried to back out of the deal, before reversing course earlier this month and saying he would proceed with the transaction.

While Mr. Musk has floated a number of proposals for Twitter, many specific details remain unclear, including potential layoffs.

Mr. Musk previously spoke to employees during a virtual meeting in June. During that meeting, he didn’t rule out layoffs and said he was concerned about costs exceeding revenue at Twitter, according to people who viewed the meeting. He also said anyone who is a significant contributor shouldn’t have anything to worry about, according to the people.

Twitter had more than 7,500 employees at the start of this year. In April, as Mr. Musk was moving to buy Twitter, entrepreneur and Musk supporter

Jason Calacanis

suggested cutting the number of Twitter employees to roughly 3,000, according to messages between him and Mr. Musk, which were released as part of the court case over the stalled deal.

Twitter employees, in addition to dealing with the usual uncertainty while working at a takeover target, also watched their proposed acquirer criticize the company on its own platform over issues including its content-moderation policies and its handling of spam and fake accounts.

More recently, as the court-appointed deadline approached to complete his acquisition of the social-media platform or resume litigation over the stalled deal, Mr. Musk started to talk up the company and its prospects, after having accused it of fraud.

“I’m excited about the Twitter situation because obviously I know the product incredibly well and I think it’s an asset that has sort of languished for a long time but has incredible potential,” Mr. Musk said this month during an earnings call for

Tesla Inc.,

where he’s chief executive.

Write to Alexa Corse at alexa.corse@wsj.com