Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, on Thursday raised the possibility of the social media platform going bankrupt, capping a chaotic day that included an exodus of key executives and a warning from the US regulator for consumer protection. Musk, in his first address to Twitter employees since acquiring the company for $44 billion, said that bankruptcy was a possibility if it doesn’t start generating more cash, reported Bloomberg News.
The warning came amid a bumpy start to Musk’s reign at the social media company: a two-week period in which he has sacked half of Twitter’s workforce, ushered out most of the senior executives and ordered the remaining employees to stop working from home.
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In his address to employees, Musk said employees should brace for 80-hour work weeks. He has been adamant about workers returning to the office, while Twitter previously allowed employees to work from home. He also told staff that the days of free food and other perks are over at Twitter’s offices.
Talking about Twitter’s finances and future, Musk said the company is required to work with urgency to make its $8 subscription product, Twitter Blue, something users will want to pay for, despite a pullback by advertisers who are worried about harmful content.
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Yoel Roth and Robin Wheeler, two executives who until today had appeared as part of Elon Musk’s new leadership team, have resigned, according to the report. Since the acquisition was completed last month, Roth had taken over all the social media network’s Trust and Safety efforts while Wheeler, a sales vice president, had recently stepped up to oversee relations with jittery advertisers concerned about content.
While the acquisition has removed Twitter from the scrutiny of public markets, Musk burdened the company with nearly $13 billion of debt that’s now in the hands of seven Wall Street banks that have been unable to offload it to investors. According to Bloomberg News, some funds are offering to buy the loans for as low as 60 cents on the dollar, a price typically reserved for companies considered to be in financial distress.
The social media company has seen a pullback from some advertisers that are concerned about Musk’s plans for content moderation.
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Earlier Thursday, Twitter’s chief information security officer Lea Kissner, Chief Privacy Officer Damien Keiran, and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty also resigned, raising concerns about the company’s ability to keep its platform secure and comply with regulatory norms. Currently, Twitter is bound by a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission that regulates how the company handles user data and could be subject to fines for violations.
