LONDON — Billionaire Elon Musk has instructed the BBC that operating Twitter has been “fairly painful” however that the social media firm is now roughly breaking even after he acquired it late final 12 months.
In an interview additionally streamed dwell late Tuesday on Twitter Areas, Musk mentioned his possession of the net platform, together with layoffs, misinformation and his work model.
“It’s not been boring. It’s fairly a rollercoaster,” he instructed the U.Okay. broadcaster at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
It was a uncommon likelihood for a mainstream information outlet to interview Musk, who additionally owns Tesla and SpaceX. After shopping for Twitter for $44 billion final 12 months, Musk’s adjustments included eliminating the corporate’s communiciations division.
Reporters who electronic mail the corporate to hunt remark now obtain an auto-reply with a poop emoji.
The interview was typically tense, with Musk difficult the reporter to again up assertions about rising ranges of hate speech on the platform. At different occasions, Musk laughed at his personal jokes, mentioning greater than as soon as that he wasn’t the CEO however his canine Floki was.
He additionally revealed that he typically sleeps on a sofa at Twitter’s San Francisco workplace.
Advertisers who had shunned the platform within the wake of Musk’s tumultuous acquisition have principally returned, the billionaire stated, with out offering particulars.
Musk predicted that Twitter might grow to be “money movement optimistic” within the present quarter “if present developments proceed.” As a result of Twitter is a non-public firm, details about its funds can’t be verified.
After buying the platform, Musk carried out mass layoffs as a part of cost-cutting efforts. He stated Twitter’s workforce has been slashed to about 1,500 staff from about 8,000 beforehand, describing it as one thing that needed to be carried out.
“It’s not enjoyable in any respect,” Musk stated. “The corporate’s going to go bankrupt if we don’t lower prices instantly. This isn't a caring-uncaring state of affairs. It’s like if the entire ship sinks, then no one’s bought a job.”
Requested if he regretted shopping for the corporate, he stated it was one thing that “wanted to be carried out.”
“The ache stage of Twitter has been extraordinarily excessive. This hasn’t been some kind of social gathering,” Musk stated.