After acquiring Twitter late last year, billionaire Elon Musk told the BBC that operating it has been “quite painful” but is now nearly breaking even. Musk discussed layoffs, disinformation, and his work approach on Twitter Spaces late Tuesday.
“It’s not boring. “It’s a rollercoaster,” he told the U.K. broadcaster at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters.
Musk, who owns Tesla and SpaceX, was rarely interviewed by mainstream media. After buying Twitter for $44 billion last year, Musk eliminated the communications department. Emails to the corporation now include a feces emoji.
Musk pressed the reporter for evidence of increased hate speech on the site, making the encounter uncomfortable. Musk often joked that his dog Floki was the CEO, laughing at himself.
He also admitted to sleeping on Twitter’s San Francisco couch. In addition, the billionaire claimed advertisers that left the site after Musk’s takeover had generally returned without revealing details.
Musk projected that Twitter might turn “cash flow positive” this quarter “if current trends continue.” Twitter’s finances are unconfirmed because it’s private.
Musk laid off several employees after buying the company to minimize costs. He said Twitter has to cut its headcount from 8,000 to 1,500.
“It’s not fun,” Musk added. “The company will go bankrupt if we don’t cut costs immediately. It’s not caring-uncaring. If the ship sinks, nobody has a job.”
If he regretted buying the firm, he stated it “needed to be done.”Twitter suffers greatly. Musk insisted this wasn’t a party.