Topline
Billionaire Elon Musk on Monday said his recent takeover of Twitter—along with his existing responsibilities as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX—has caused his workload to increase by “quite a lot”, following a tumultuous two weeks at the social media platform including mass layoffs.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks during a virtual meeting at the B20 Summit ahead of the G20 leaders summit … [+]
Key Facts
Musk spoke at the B20 business forum in Bali on Monday, ahead of the key G-20 Summit, where he said he is working “from morning ‘til night” all seven days of the week, adding that he has too much work on his plate “that is for sure.”
Addressing business leaders via video conference, Musk said he was not sure how many people would actually “like to be me,” adding “the amount that I torture myself, is the next level, frankly.”
Musk once again reiterated his plan to bring long-form video to Twitter and allow content creators to monetize it, without offering details.
In an apparent acknowledgement of criticism of his handling of Twitter, Musk said there was no way of making everyone happy.
On Tesla, the electric carmaker’s CEO said he would consider developing a low-cost electric vehicle for developing markets like Indonesia and India.
News Peg
Musk’s statement about his heavy workload comes just hours after the Platformer’s Casey Newton reported that Twitter had fired 4,400 of its 5,500 contract workers around the world. Many of these workers were based in countries like India and reportedly tackled content moderation, real estate, and marketing for the company. The handling of these latest firings triggered criticism as the workers were given no notice and found out they were fired after losing access to Slack—the intracompany chat app—and their work email. The decision is likely to raise further questions about moderation of content on the platform, something that has prompted advertisers to pause spending on the platform.
Key Background
Twitter has faced a tumultuous two weeks since Musk’s takeover of the company as it lost a sizable portion of its workforce, key leaders and has had to flip flop on key new features. Late last week, the platform was forced to pause its $8-per-month Twitter Blue subscription service after only a few days. The feature allowed users to receive a blue verification badge without ID authentication. As many had predicted, opening the blue checkmark to anyone willing to pay a fee triggered a bevy of impersonator accounts that caused confusion and led to the spread of misinformation on the platform. Impersonators armed with Twitter Blue check marks targeted everyone from political leaders like President Joe Biden, former Presidents Donald Trump and George Bush along with major brands like Pepsi, Nintendo, BP and Eli Lilly.
Further Reading
Musk touches on Twitter criticism, workload at G-20 forum (Associated Press)
Twitter reportedly cut thousands of contractors without warning (The Verge)
Twitter Blue: Signups For Paid Verification Appear Suspended After Impersonator Chaos (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/11/14/musk-tells-g20-twitter-takeover-has-increased-his-workload-quite-a-lot/