Cascading resignations, warnings from authorities and fleeing advertisers: Elon Musk’s Twitter was taking water from all sides on Thursday, despite his contrasting efforts to motivate remaining employees.
“The future is very exciting, I can’t wait to make it happen with you,” the new boss said Thursday at the start of an internal meeting for employees who weren’t fired during the mass layoffs he made a week ago.
But the bankruptcy threat arose when he later admitted he didn’t know how “revenue hungry” the business would be next year.
In an internal letter the day before, he had written to them that the road was going to be “laborious”, and that they now had to “be in person at the office at least 40 hours a week”. Employees also questioned him about the risks associated with rapidly rolling out new and untested features, the preferred method of the Tesla and SpaceX boss.
Because the US competition agency (FTC) issued a rare warning against the platform on Thursday: “We are following recent developments on Twitter with great concern. No CEO or company is above the law,” a spokesperson said. from the FTC. He recalled that the platform risked large fines if it did not comply with the rules of an agreement reached with the agency on data security and confidentiality.
However, many employees aware of these regulations are no longer on Twitter. The head of Tesla and SpaceX fired half of the Californian company’s 7,500 employees a week ago, ten days after buying it and becoming its only master on board.
Hundreds of people had already left this summer, and executive resignations have continued in recent days. On Thursday, Damien Kieran, data privacy manager, and Lea Kissner, security manager, announced their departures. Other executives have also decided to step aside, including Yoel Roth, “former head of trust and security” at Twitter, as he has indicated since Thursday night on his profile. He had intervened several times in recent days to clarify changes or ensure that the fight against disinformation remained a “top priority.” However, Robin Wheeler, an executive in charge of client solutions whose departure had been announced by the US media, tweeted Thursday night: “I’m still here.”
Memes (humorous images) referring to chaos and panic multiplied on the platform. Elon Musk repeats at his whim that content moderation, a safeguard against abuse on the platform, is intact. He said Thursday that the use of Twitter “continues to grow,” adding: “One thing is for sure: it’s not boring.”
But his hasty decisions and provocations on Twitter have been the source of daily controversy for two weeks, worrying many authorities, advertisers, users and minority groups.
Several advertisers have suspended their spending on the highly influential social network, whose economic model is 90% dependent on advertising. Insider Intelligence has lowered its forecast for Twitter ad revenue by 39% in 2023 and 2024.
Elon Musk wants to diversify sources of income, from subscriptions for users to content creation tools for influencers. But Wednesday’s cacophonous launch of Twitter Blue, the new $8-a-month formula for account authentication, resulted in conflicting official statements and a rash of fake profiles.
At the start of the week, it sold nearly $4 billion worth of shares in its flagship Tesla. “I did it to save Twitter,” he told employees Thursday.
Elon Musk wanted to buy the Californian company in the spring, then he no longer wanted it in the summer and was forced to buy it in the fall to avoid a lawsuit, putting it heavily in debt. “This whole circus on Twitter has to stop… It’s hurting (Tesla’s) brand image,” analyst Dan Ives said Thursday.
Source: BFM TV
