Elon Musk has said Twitter is “close to breaking even” following its indiscriminate takeover of the social media platform that saw 6,500 people lose their jobs due to massive layoffs.
During a surprise live interview with the BBC in San Francisco, the CEO of Twitter said the social media platform is “very soon, in just a few months, going into positive cash flow.”
The claim comes six months after the billionaire acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal.
Musk’s acquisition of the company has sparked controversy, especially after the billionaire made the decision to lay off thousands of Twitter employees, including those responsible for preventing the spread of misinformation.
Since the acquisition, Twitter’s staff has shrunk from 8,000 to 1,500, Musk confirmed on Tuesday.
He said he made the decision to lay off mass layoffs due to “a $3 billion negative cash flow situation” when he joined a company he claimed left Twitter with four months left to live.
When asked if he regrets buying the platform, Musk admitted he’s been in a pretty stressful situation over the past few months, but said the Twitter purchase was the right thing to do.
During the interview, he also confirmed that the old blue ticks will be removed from all Twitter accounts next week.
Twitter has traditionally used blue checkmarks to indicate to users that accounts claiming to be companies and famous people are genuine. The social media company announced last month that it was phasing out its outdated verification program and switching to paid verification to try and generate much-needed revenue.
As part of this process, the company has begun removing blue ticks from accounts, with Musk confirming to the BBC that the process will be completed shortly.
Twitter CEO fired such media companies The newspaper “New York Times who refused to pay for verification through the program and lost their blue check as a result. He claimed, “It’s a small amount, so I don’t know what their problem is. We will treat everyone equally.”
Mr. Musk said he wants the social media platform to foster “an anointed class of journalists” and “hoped” the new process “may be more of a story chosen by the public rather than history.” story”. .
During the interview, Mr Musk also spoke about his recent disagreement with the BBC after the company dropped a new tag on its main Twitter account, which he described as “state-funded media”.
“The BBC is and always has been independent. We are financed by the British public through royalties,” the BBC replied.
Asked by BBC technology correspondent James Clayton, Musk said he “has tremendous respect” for the company and confirmed that the tag is being updated to describe the BBC as publicly funded.
“We want it to be as honest and accurate as possible,” he said.
Source: I News
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