The value of Twitter has more than halved since Elon Musk’s $US44 billion ($66 billion) takeover in November, according to a leaked internal memo.

In an email to Twitter staff, the billionaire suggested that the social media company is now worth about $US20 billion ($30 billion) based on the value of stock awards granted to employees.

The decision to write off around 55 per cent of its price tag, first reported by The Information, comes after technology valuations collapsed last year and companies, including Twitter, sacked thousands of staff as growth stalled.

Musk last year said he was “obviously overpaying” for Twitter, after agreeing to buy the company in April. He was later sued by Twitter after attempting to walk away from the deal. Musk later backed down and agreed to complete the transaction.

The billionaire has sacked more than half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff in an attempt to cut costs and has also grappled with a slump in advertiser interest.

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In his latest email to employees, Musk told staff the mass job cuts had been needed with the company four months from running out of cash, Platformer, a tech newsletter, reported.

Musk said while the current stock value represented a sharp fall, the company had a “clear but difficult path” to a valuation of $US250 billion. Staff will receive grants from Musk’s holding company, X-Corporation, and have opportunities to cash out their shares.

Last year, Musk repeatedly warned employees at the social network that Twitter was at risk of bankruptcy, which he said necessitated sweeping job cuts. The company has also torn up rental agreements for many of its offices, scrapped home working and sold off office IT equipment, furniture and even coffee machines. Musk also cleared out nearly all the company’s former senior management following the takeover. He had accused former executives of censorship on the social network and of making misleading statements about the number of fake accounts on its website, something Twitter’s board denied.