Twitter without Musk: Where is the company headed?

No matter the outcome, Twitter is likely to come out of its ordeal with Elon Musk bruised and battered. 

Should Musk manage to weasel himself out of the deal, Twitter’s share prices are likely to take a hit and reduce morale within an already disheartened workforce. If Twitter wins, the company will find itself being run by a billionaire whose wild statements have often been the subject of intense scrutiny and has often been seen as someone who is soft on the Alt-right. 

Twitter’s Chairman of the board, Bret Taylor had tweeted that the company would be looking to enforce the deal in the Delware Court of Chancery, where most American disputes between large corporations are arbitrated upon. 

Also Read: How is Twitter vs Elon Musk likely to play out?

Much before the announcement was made, Twitter’s staff had made their displeasure of Musk known, at a Q&A session in June. Communications between employees on internal channels revealed that workers only had disdain for the billionaire, who claimed that only those whose work was “exceptional” would be allowed to work from home, according to a Bloomberg report. 

In the past, Elon Musk has made no secret of his insistence that both Tesla and SpaceX employees be at the office. He even went so far as to issue an ultimatum, asking employees to return to office, or not return at all. 

Even before his Q&A at Twitter, company employees had developed misgivings about a man that many claimed had no understanding of how social media operates, while others complained about the sexual allegations made by a SpaceX worker about Musk. 

While Musk had said that he’d buy out the company for $44 billion, at a stock price of $54.2 per share, with his withdrawal, the stock price is likely to drop past the share price of $36.81 at the closing bell. Not only that, but there is talk on tech forums that the company’s valuation was inflated.  

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In fact, by the end of this year, Bloomberg projects that Bytedance’s TikTok will earn more in revenue than both Twitter and Snapchat combined. Throw in a struggling economy as well as job cuts across Silicon Valley, and it’s easy to see why faith in the Twitter brand is wavering amongst investors and shareholders and employees.