Two weeks after taking over Twitter, Elon Musk finally addressed the company’s remaining staff and the message was bleak. Speaking at an all-hands meeting, Musk said that Twitter is losing so much money that “bankruptcy is not out of the question,” The Information and Platformer reported.
Since 2019 Twitter hasn’t turned a profit, and ad revenue has declined significantly since Musk’s takeover as advertisers pull back from the platform.
At the all-hands, Musk said Twitter could have “the net negative cash flow of several billion dollars” in 2023. He also suggested that Twitter’s future depends upon the success of the revamped Twitter Blue subscription service.
He added, “The reason we’re going hardcore on subscribers is to keep Twitter alive,”.
Musk also told employees, again, that they are expected to work from Twitter’s office, a reversal of the company’s previous “work from anywhere” policy.
He said also “If you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted,” Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer, reported.
Twitter is also rapidly losing CEOs who survived Musk’s firing. The company’s chief information security officer, chief privacy officer, and chief compliance officer recently resigned, exposing the company to potential new FTC fines. Bloomberg reported that two of its top executives, head of trust and safety Yoel Roth and vice president of customer solutions Robin Wheeler, also resigned Thursday. The two joined Musk at a town hall meant to reassure Twitter advertisers just a day earlier.
In the meantime, rolling out the new blue subscription has been tricky. After a separate “official” checkmark was introduced – and quickly removed, there has been a rise in the number of scammers and scammers impersonating politicians, celebrities, and brands. Musk reportedly told employees that rooting out scammers abusing the check mark is a “top priority.”
