Elon Musk has responded to a video that shows Twitter employees worried about their takeover of the company.
In the form of leaked videos of internal Slack conversations, Twitter employees expressed many concerns about Mr. Musk’s direction to the company. Employees pointed to concerns about Mr Musk’s statements on trans people and his other positions.
Mr Musk responded with only one word: “interesting”. He did not give any indication of his position on the questions raised or whether he intended to answer the staff.
Mr Musk’s remarks come amid another controversy after employees at another of his companies, SpaceX, spoke out. This week, employees are said to have written to management expressing concern about Musk’s “shameful” behavior – and reports have suggested that at least some of those employees have left the company.
The conversation on Twitter came after Mr Musk had a live conversation with Twitter employees on his plans to take over the company. He met virtually with employees in an effort to reassure him of his plans, in a conversation in which he suggested he could fire some employees and that the types of tweets promoted by the platform would change.
“Faith is what I believe. I am very literal in what I say… one does not need to read between the lines. One can just read the lines,” Mr. Musk said at the meeting, on Twitter. According to a tweet by Nola Weinstein, the global head of brand experiences and engagement at
Ms Weinstein did not immediately respond to a message asking for further comment and she later deleted all her tweets about the meeting. Twitter declined to comment.
According to multiple news reports, Mr. Musk also addressed potential layoffs at the company, saying that, right now, “costs exceed revenue. It’s not a big deal.”
He also touched on growth, saying he’d like to see Twitter reach a billion users — nearly four times its current user base — and anonymity, where he previously caused a stir when he said he was “all over” on the service. humans want to verify”.
At the meeting, he clarified that this does not mean that he wants everyone on Twitter to use their real names, as on Facebook, because pseudonyms allow people to freely express their political views. can, according to The New York Times.
Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal, in an email on Monday, announced an all-round meeting with employees, saying they would be able to submit questions in advance.
The meeting is “a clear step in the right direction towards the prospect of a deal being struck and a smart strategic move as the past few months have left Twitter employees in the dark and many questions during this volatile period of uncertainty,” said Wedbush analyst Danielle Ives.
One of Mr Musk’s key points at the meeting was to make Twitter “so compelling you can’t live without it”, Ms Weinstein tweeted.
Mr Musk, who has more than 98 million followers on Twitter and is one of the most prolific users of its platform, also said that while some people “use their hair to express themselves, I use Twitter.” I do,” according to Ms. Weinstein.
Mr Musk also praised Chinese apps like TikTok, according to multiple reports, which he said is good for keeping people connected and not “boring”, and WeChat, which he said could be a good model for Twitter. could.
Mr Musk reached a deal to acquire Twitter in April, but has since clashed with the company repeatedly over the number of bots, or fake accounts, on the social media platform.
Mr Musk said he was putting the deal on hold on 13 May, although it does not appear he can do so on his own. He said he needed more data from the company about those bot accounts, despite the fact that Twitter has reported its bot estimates — and acknowledged they may have been too low — for investors over the years. For.
Twitter employees may have other reasons to panic about an impending acquisition of Mr. Musk. The jittery billionaire has imposed a barrage of criticism on the company from its moderation and security policies, which he describes as a threat to “free speech” for its anonymous user accounts, which he wants to end, thanks to the ban of former President Donald Trump. Trump, which he has resolved to reverse.
Mr Musk has also targeted Twitter’s work from home policy, which once called for the company’s headquarters to be turned into a “homeless shelter” because, he said, very few employees actually worked there.
The comment also served as a thinly veiled jab in San Francisco, which has a large homeless population. He said during Thursday’s meeting that he favors working personally, according to Ms Weinstein.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press
