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Elon Musk warned Twitter staffers its enterprise wanted to “get wholesome” and bear a “rationalisation of headcount and bills” as he addressed the social media platform’s workers instantly for the primary time since launching his $44bn takeover bid.
Chatting with its 8,000-strong workforce through a smartphone video, Musk on Thursday laid out a daring imaginative and prescient for Twitter’s future if he succeeds in taking the corporate personal. The freewheeling dialog additionally touched on points together with content material moderation, distant work and aliens.
The billionaire Tesla chief government mentioned he needed Twitter to construct up a person base of at the very least 1bn individuals globally, in response to an individual acquainted with the scenario. The corporate has 229mn monetisable day by day energetic customers — logged-in customers to whom the platform exhibits promoting.
Doing so would imply guaranteeing individuals are not “harassed” on Twitter, he mentioned, whereas additionally including an array of options to emulate Chinese language platform WeChat, a “superapp” the place customers can ship messages, funds, store or e book taxis in a single place.
In a nod to a second Chinese language-owned app, he mentioned that TikTok had efficiently ensured its content material was not “boring” — and that Twitter ought to comply with in its footsteps.
However Musk additionally hinted that lay-offs, cost-cutting or a restructuring could be in retailer, including: “Proper now prices exceed income. That’s not an awesome scenario.”
His solutions within the hour-long assembly, throughout which questions from workers had been learn out to him by Twitter’s chief advertising officer Leslie Berland, counsel that he’s nonetheless forging plans for the way he’ll run the corporate.
But it surely additionally comes after Musk has repeatedly criticised Twitter’s management, accusing executives of failing to offer adequate information on pretend accounts and breaching obligations across the deal. This has led to hypothesis that he could also be manoeuvring to renegotiate at a cheaper price or stroll away.
Musk first made his bid for Twitter in April on the promise of bringing “free speech” to what he dubbed the “digital city sq.”, and rowing again towards content material moderation restrictions. On Thursday, he doubled down on these proposals, including that he believed “fairly outrageous” tweets ought to be allowed on the platform.
Musk mentioned that promoting would stay necessary to driving revenues however that he hoped to diversify into funds, subscriptions and paid-for person verification. In an early presentation shared with traders, he mentioned he would search to quintuple revenues to $24.6bn by 2028, in response to a supply acquainted with the doc.
Morale at Twitter has been low all through the method, with many workers unsure about job safety if the deal is finalised, or, if it falls by, whether or not the corporate’s share value could be hit.
Some concern Musk’s intense management fashion will conflict with Twitter’s extra relaxed office tradition. He has lately insisted his Tesla workers present up for at the very least 40 hours every week within the workplace or discover one other employer — in stark distinction to Twitter’s promise in the course of the coronavirus pandemic that workers can “earn a living from home full-time ceaselessly” in the event that they so select.
Throughout Thursday’s assembly, Musk softened his stance barely, saying that whereas he was biased in direction of in-person work, Twitter workers who produce “distinctive” work may be capable to work remotely.
In a single rambling reply to a query about whether or not he meant to change into chief government, he mentioned he didn’t thoughts both means, earlier than outlining his imaginative and prescient of “increasing consciousness” on this planet and musing on whether or not aliens exist. “I’ve seen no precise proof of aliens . . . but,” he added.
Further reporting by James Fontanella-Khan
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