Elon Musk threatens to fire Twitter employees – and proposes new functions

Created: 06/17/2022, 12:34 p.m

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

Recently there was uncertainty as to whether Tesla boss Elon Musk still wanted to buy Twitter at all.

But in a conversation with Twitter employees, the tech billionaire got pretty specific.

San Francisco – The drama surrounding tech billionaire Elon Musk's controversial takeover of Twitter continues.

The Tesla boss already wants to get involved on Twitter - and he didn't just talk about the product development of the short message service.

At a video conference with Twitter employees, Musk said he assumes that employees would listen to his suggestions for features.

While Thursday's conversation with Musk was intended for staff only, Twitter officials shared information from it so freely that several major US media outlets were able to liveblog it.

Musk: Twitter users should be allowed to post "pretty outrageous" things

Among the product ideas for Twitter that Musk mentioned on Thursday was, for example, charging for today's free user verification.

He also confirmed the intention to fight against automated bot accounts.

The tech billionaire also reiterated his call for Twitter users to be allowed to post "pretty outrageous" stuff.

However, Twitter could throttle the distribution of such tweets.

The Tesla boss also revealed his goals for the short message service: Musk said he wanted to bring Twitter to one billion users.

According to the latest figures available, Twitter had around 230 million daily active users to whom the service can display advertising because they use the in-house app or the web version.

In a possible hint at the future direction, Musk praised the Chinese video app Tiktok for finding clips that are entertaining for users.

Elon Musk has temporarily suspended his Twitter purchase.

© John Angelillo/Imago

After Twitter takeover: Elon Musk threatens employees with dismissal

In the process, Musk also prepared the Twitter workforce for possible job cuts.

Twitter should be financially healthy - and right now its costs are higher than its revenues, he stressed.

However, those who make a significant contribution have nothing to fear.

According to Musk, valuable employees would also be more likely to be allowed to continue working from home.

The online service had previously promised employees that they would not be forced back into the offices even after the pandemic ended.

But Musk has only recently prescribed a general attendance requirement for the two companies he runs – the electric car manufacturer Tesla and the aerospace company SpaceX.

Elon Musk: The outcome of the Twitter takeover is still uncertain

It is also unclear whether Musk will eventually become the owner of Twitter.

Although he agreed to a takeover with the Twitter board of directors, he is dependent on the approval of the majority of shareholders.

At the same time, he declared the deal suspended because he had doubts about the number of fake accounts.

Twitter countered that Musk could not unilaterally put the agreement on hold and was determined to enforce it.

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While Musk is offering shareholders $54.20 per share, the stock ended Thursday at $37.36, down about 1.7 percent.

So Musk has an incentive to renegotiate the price, while many previous shareholders have an interest in selling on his current offering.

The appearance in front of the employees was taken as a sign that Musk is still fundamentally interested in buying Twitter.

He did not directly comment on this in the conversation.