Elon Musk warned Twitter employees that his business needed to “stay healthy” and undergo “staff streamlining” while addressing social media platform employees directly for the first time since launching its offering $ 44 billion acquisition.
Speaking at a scheduled employee meeting via a video link, Musk set out a bold vision for the future of Twitter if it manages to keep the company private, including increasing the number of people using the platform to at least 1,000. million, according to a person familiar with the situation. The company has 229 million monetizable daily active users – registered users to whom the platform displays advertising.
However, the billionaire CEO of Tesla also hinted that there would be layoffs or a restructuring, adding: “Right now the costs outweigh the revenue. It’s not a big deal.”
The one-hour meeting, during which employees’ questions were read to Musk, came after the employer accused Twitter’s leadership of not providing enough data on fake accounts and breaches of its obligations. makes to the agreement. This has sparked speculation about whether he is maneuvering to renegotiate at a lower price or leave altogether.
Musk first ran on Twitter in April with a promise to bring “free speech” to what he dubbed the “digital city square” and to remove content moderation restrictions. . On Thursday, he downplayed those proposals and added that he believed “rather outrageous” tweets should be allowed on the platform, the person said.
Musk said advertising would continue to be important in generating revenue, but hoped to diversify into payments, subscriptions, and verification of paid users. In an initial presentation shared with investors, he said he would try to quintuple revenues to $ 24.6 billion by 2028, according to a source familiar with the document.
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Morale on Twitter has been low throughout the process, with many employees unsure about job security if the deal is closed or if not, if the company’s stock price could be affected.
Some fear that Musk’s leadership style clashes with Twitter’s freer work culture. Musk, for example, recently insisted that his Tesla employees show up at least 40 hours a week in the office or find another employer, in stark contrast to Twitter’s promise during the coronavirus pandemic that employees can ” work from home full time forever “if you choose.
During Thursday’s meeting, Musk softened his position slightly, saying that excellent Twitter employees could be able to work remotely.
Additional report by James Fontanella-Khan