Elon Musk’s Twitter account displayed on a phone screen and the Twitter logo displayed on a background screen are seen on this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland, November 22, 2022.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said on Sunday that the past few months had been “extremely difficult” but said the social media company “is now tending to interrupt even.” CNBC was unable to independently confirm this claim.
Musk, who can be the CEO Tesla and SpaceX, he said in a tweet that he needed to “save Twitter from bankruptcy” while fulfilling his roles at his other firms.
“I do not wish this sort of pain on anyone,” he wrote. “Twitter still faces challenges, but currently tends to interrupt even when we keep it going. Public support is greatly appreciated!”
Twitter and Musk didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment.
Since acquiring the corporate for $44 billion late last 12 months, it has been a difficult acquisition for “Mr. Tweet,” a nickname Musk recently adopted.
According to technology newsletter Platformer, Twitter’s every day revenue totaled down 40% 12 months on 12 months in January 2023, and a whole bunch of top Twitter advertisers have paused or withdrawn spending. One company estimated that Twitter ad revenue fell by as much as 70% year-on-year in December, reported Reuters.
Some of the changes Musk made to Twitter, similar to reinstating the accounts of controversial figures including neo-Nazi site founder Andrew Anglin, prompted brands to go away the platform and outrage from civil rights leaders.
Musk admitted in a November tweet that the corporate experienced a “huge drop in revenue” after advertisers halted spending on the social media platform.
In late 2022, Musk claimed that Twitter was not “on the approach to bankruptcy” but still not “protected” during episode of the All-In podcast together with his longtime friends who’re also Twitter investors, business angel Jason Calacanis and Craft Ventures co-founder and partner David Sacks.
Twitter has been sued for failing to pay various partners, suppliers and former employees since Elon Musk took over. In one example, Florida-based Private Jet Services sued Twitter for failing to pay $197,725 for transportation services. In one other case, the owner of Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters sued the corporate after allegedly failing to pay roughly $6.8 million in rent in December and January.
Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter has reduced its workforce through mass layoffs, other layoffs, and internal changes which have forced many to resign, including the tip of the eternally work-from-home policy that was introduced under former CEO Jack Dorsey.
Labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan filed a whole bunch of arbitration requests and proposed a category motion lawsuit against Twitter on behalf of affected employees. According to January Tweetargues that former Twitter employees who’ve been laid off or forced to resign must be given more severance pay than Musk’s team has offered them.
In addition to cutting costs, the corporate tried to extend latest revenue or income lines. Twitter auctioned every part from kitchen supplies to office equipment in January this 12 months.
The company also launched – and relaunched – an updated Twitter Blue subscription service in December, after Musk withdrew and delayed the service in November. Recently, Musk decided to charge researchers for access to the corporate’s API and can do away with all free access to it.
The cent-billionaire received significant shareholder backlash against Tesla for being distracted, for borrowing talent from Tesla to assist him on Twitter, for stirring up political controversy on Twitter, and for selling billions of dollars value of Tesla stock to fund the Twitter takeover.
In a tweet on Sunday, one Twitter user expressed concern about how much Musk had on his plate.
“I worry about myself too,” Musk wrote in reply.
