Elon Musk has raised the possibility of Twitter going bankrupt as the company experiences its most chaotic day since taking power two weeks ago.
World ‘s richest man outlines his the company’s In his first crowd call with the remaining employees, the financial situation was shaky, Thousands of dismissals have been made.
Twitter has experienced further departures as reports of the call first emerged, with its head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, updating his profile to indicate that he has left.
In an earlier employee email, Musk warned Twitter — He bought it for $44 billion at the end of Octoberafter spending months trying to get out of the woods — not “surviving the coming recession” without increasing income.
Musk wants to pass Improved $8/month Twitter Blue serviceaimed at offsetting declining ad revenue as companies worry about his stance on content moderation.
Concerns about his approach to user privacy also prompted the FTC to intervene on Thursday night, warning that “no CEO or company is above the law.”
Musk himself seemed to ignore reports of another chaotic day at his new company, tweeting: “Twitter usage continues to rise. One thing is for sure: it’s not boring!”
Twitter’s tough financial situation
During a meeting with employees on Thursday, Musk reportedly warned that Twitter could lose billions of dollars next year.
Bankruptcy is therefore not out of the question, he said, as the company grapples with $13bn (£11bn) of debt following his takeover deal and interest payments totalling almost $1.2bn (£1bn) over the next 12 months .
The payments topped Twitter’s recently disclosed cash flow, which stood at $1.1bn (£900m) at the end of June.
Musk said the company was losing $4m (£3.4m) a day, largely because advertisers had suspended spending over concerns about his “absolutist stance on free speech”.
The solution he tried, Twitter Blue, eventually proved to a certain extent. It entitles anyone who registers to use the blue checkmark previously reserved for verified accounts, But it has been abused by pranksters to post offensive messages under the guise of Tony Blair, George W. Bush and even the Nintendo mascot Super Mario.
The sign-up option has since disappeared from Twitter’s iOS app.
More employees leave
Musk fired half of Twitter’s 8,000 employees shortly after the acquisition and fired its executives at an even faster rate.
More left this week, chief among them Mr. Ross, who oversees Twitter’s response to hate speech, misinformation and spam.
Mr. Ross, who has been one of the most outspoken members of Twitter’s top team since Musk’s acquisition, assured users and advertisers that the platform remains committed to addressing these issues.
His profile changed on Thursday, indicating that he no longer works at Twitter – and is believed to have resigned.
Earlier in the day, Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner tweeted that she had resigned, while an internal source seen by Reuters said Chief Privacy Officer Marianne Fogarty had also left.
Musk previously told employees that he would ban working from home and that all employees are expected to be in the office for at least 40 hours a week.
How Twitter employees hear work messages
Warning from regulators
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) expressed “deep concern” over the Twitter developments, with safety, security and privacy officials fleeing.
In May, Twitter agreed to pay $150 million (£128 million) to settle FTC allegations that it misused private user information to target ads after telling them it collected data purely for security reasons.
Douglas Farrar, director of public affairs at the FTC, told Reuters: “No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must comply with our consent statute.
“Our revised consent decree gives us new tools to ensure compliance and we are ready to use them.”