The 2-4x figure was not news inside the buildings. Every Big Tech CFO has carried that ratio in the model since 2018. What was missing was political cover. Headcount sat on the balance sheet as an ornament priced in option-grant dilution, hoarded against a cycle the next director hire would justify, untouched because firing in a zero-rate cohort signaled distress no narrative wanted to absorb.

AI supplied the press release the board had refused to sign for seven years. The layoffs were already in the model. The deck was already on the table. It was waiting for a story the analyst desks could repeat without pricing execution risk into the CEO's tenure.