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Elon Musk has admitted in his first ‘all hands’ meeting of Twitter staff that the company could go bankrupt, as yet more staff left the embattled company – including the man who decided to censor stories from Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Musk officially took ownership of Twitter on October 27, sealing a $44billion deal. He then fired most of the senior executives, and last week axed a further 3,700 – half the staff.
Advertisers have pulled out in large numbers, scared by the tumult and bad publicity, and Musk – who took out a large loan to buy the firm – soon faces the prospect of being saddled with immense debt, which could bankrupt Twitter.
Amid the chaos, several other high-profile Twitter figures left the company on Thursday – including Yoel Roth, whose job title was head of safety and integrity.
Yoel Roth, who censored stories about Hunter Biden’s laptop, left Twitter on Thursday
Roth’s position had looked secure: he was chosen by Musk on Wednesday to moderate a discussion with him, and Musk retweeted many of Roth’s comments about Twitter’s policies and plans for the future.
Roth said Twitter had reduced views of harmful content in search results by 95 percent compared to before Musk’s acquisition – a comment praised and retweeted by Musk.
On Tuesday, after Roth explained the thinking behind the removal of the infamous blue ticks, to indicate a user has been verified, Musk responded: ‘Important thread’.
Yet on Thursday, Roth was out.
Roth was the social network’s head of site integrity in 2020, when Twitter decided just before the presidential election to ban the sharing of a New York Post article detailing the contents of Hunter Biden’s son.
Roth, questioned by the Federal Election Commission in September 2021, said that he heard ‘rumors’ that the laptop had been hacked – and Twitter had rules against publishing material obtained via illegal means.
But it soon emerged that the laptop had not been hacked, and the contents were real.
Jack Dorsey, the then-CEO of Twitter, said censoring reporting on the laptop had been a mistake.
It is unclear why Roth has now left the company.
Musk’s ‘all hands’ meeting on Thursday was stormy from the start.
Called with just an hour’s notice, Musk himself showed up 15 minutes late for it, according to Platformer.
Musk, who has made a key pillar of his purchase of Twitter the end of working from home, reportedly told staff: ‘If you can physically make it to an office and you don’t show up, resignation accepted.’
Shortly before the meeting, Twitter’s Chief Security Officer Lea Kissner tweeted that she had quit.
In addition, the company’s stock appears to have been delisted for the time being.
Musk on Thursday raised the possibility of Twitter going bankrupt, capping a chaotic day that included a warning from regulators and departures of senior executives
Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty also resigned, according to an internal message posted to Twitter’s Slack messaging system on Thursday by an attorney on its privacy team and seen by Reuters.
A lawyer working for Twitter warned that the social network could face billions in fines from the FTC over potential violations of the consent decree it’s been under – resulting from Musk‘s rapid-fire changes that impact user privacy.
The note that was posted to the company’s Slack and was viewable by all staffers goes on to say that its author has ‘heard Alex Spiro (the current head of Legal) say that Elon is willing to take on a huge amount of risk in relation to this company and its users, because ‘Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC.”
Since taking the helm of the company, Musk has fired almost half its workforce; ended remote work for the remaining employees; said there was ‘no way to sugarcoat’ the firm’s economic outlook; and has gone back and forth with changes to its verification system and Twitter Blue.
In his first meeting with all employees at Twitter on Thursday afternoon, Musk warned that the company may lose billions of dollars next year, the Information reported.
Twitter did not respond to requests for comment on a potential bankruptcy, the FTC warning, or the departures.
Musk has saddled Twitter with $13billion in debt, on which it faces interest payments totaling close to $1.2billion in the next 12 months.
The payments exceed Twitter’s most recently disclosed cash flow, which amounted to $1.1billion as of the end of June.
Musk has ended remote working for Twitter staff – as he told the company to prepare for ‘difficult times ahead’ in his first email to employees since taking over as CEO.
Twitter Client Solutions Leader Robin Wheeler also has reportedly handed in her resignation
A lawyer working for Twitter warns that the social network could face billions in fines from the FTC over potential violations of the consent decree it’s been under – resulting from Elon Musk’s rapid-fire changes that impact user privacy
The email is the latest announcement amid a raft of changes under his leadership at Twitter. He last night tweeted: ‘Please note that Twitter will do lots of dumb things in coming months. We will keep what works and change what doesn’t’
The email, sent late on Wednesday night, stated there was ‘no way to sugarcoat’ the economic outlook.
According to Bloomberg, he said that the poor forecast will affect an advertising-dependent company such as Twitter.
In the email he also announced he was banning working from home, expecting workers in the office at least 40 hours a week.
The hours are subject to conditions approved by him as the new head of Twitter.
He said: ‘The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed.’
Policies mentioned in the email are effective immediately.
Twitter’s buyout has sparked concerns that Musk, who has often waded into political debates, could face pressure from countries trying to control online speech.
It prompted U.S. President Joe Biden to say on Wednesday that Musk’s ‘cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at.’
Musk told advertisers on Wednesday, speaking on Twitter’s Spaces feature, that he aimed to turn the platform into a force for truth and stop fake accounts.
His assurances may not be enough.
Chipotle Mexican Grill said on Thursday it had pulled back its paid and owned content on Twitter ‘while we gain a better understanding on the direction of the platform under its new leadership.’
It joined other brands including General Motors that have paused advertising on Twitter since Musk took over, concerned that he will loosen content moderation rules.
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