According to a liveblog of the 45-minute chat by the New York Times, Musk stated he isn’t sure what his role would be at the company. He wants to be more involved in the product, and he expects the team to consider his ideas for new features. He also mentioned that he is very involved at Tesla and that he would operate Twitter in the same way.
As layoffs ravaged the digital industry, some Twitter employees feared how Musk’s potential acquisition would affect their jobs.
“Right now, costs exceed revenue. That’s not a great situation,” he said regarding potential layoffs. Musk has also warned employees about job cuts at Tesla, where he plans to reduce headcount by 10%.
Currently, about a quarter of Twitter’s employees work from home. Earlier this month, Musk sent Tesla employees an email with the subject line “To be super clear,” stating that all employees must work a minimum of 40 hours per week.
“Moreover, the office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo office,” he wrote.
Musk reminded Twitter employees that outstanding employees may be able to work remotely, despite the fact that it is “much better if you are on location physically.” This is because running a social media network is not the same as building cars or rockets, both of which Musk considers “difficult to do remotely.”
“The more senior you are, the more visible must be your presence,” he wrote in his message to Tesla employees. He claimed that Tesla would have gone bankrupt had he not spent time in the factories, where “those on the line could see [him] working alongside them.”
Musk plans to transform Twitter into a private firm, believing that the platform can be more productive without having to appease activist shareholders.
The deal is still on hold, according to Musk, who claims that it will be “on hold” until Twitter can verify that its claims about the number of bots on the network are correct, and Twitter hands over its “firehose” of data.
“Twitter has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Mr. Musk to consummate the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement. We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms.”
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