US newspaper The Washington Post has reported that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk plans to cut nearly 75 percent of Twitter's 7,500 workers within months of his expected purchase of the social media giant.

Twitter and Musk, who is also CEO of the electric car maker Tesla, are expected to close the purchase deal by October 28.

The Post's report on Thursday said the plan would pare down the number of Twitter workers to just over 2,000.

During his meeting with Twitter employees in June, Musk suggested temporary layoffs following the deal, aimed at improving Twitter's profitability.

Since the spread of misinformation on social media during the 2016 US presidential election, Twitter has increased the number of people it employs to control harmful content. But expanded costs have undermined the company's profits.

The newspaper quoted an expert as saying that the proposed massive cuts would put Twitter's users at risk of hacking and exposure to offensive material.