Most advertisers are now back on the platform, Elon Musk said.
Elon Musk announced that most of the advertisers who left Twitter after its $44 billion acquisition have returned, suggesting the struggling platform is regaining its feet.
Mr Musk, speaking in an exciting Twitter Space interview with the BBC that played out in front of millions of listeners, reaffirmed that Twitter is working to breakeven and could be cash flow positive as early as this quarter. More than 3 million concurrent users tuned in to the nearly two-hour-long conversation, which turned combative at times as the billionaire lashed out at his interviewer and questioned the BBC’s track record on everything from Covid misinformation to hate speech raised.
Twitter reported positive cash flow in July, its last earnings disclosure before the culmination of Mr Musk’s turbulent acquisition. The deal left the company billions of dollars in debt, so restoring it to profitability may have justified the drastic cuts in staff and facilities that Mr Musk made upon completion – although making various payments on those It has also been accused of failing. Company expenses, from office rent to severance from former employees to former executives’ legal fees.
Mr Musk said he only completed his purchase of Twitter last year because he was legally compelled to do so after the company’s board sued him to close the deal. He later said that even if offered the same price today, he probably would not sell Twitter.
Most advertisers are now back on the platform, Mr Musk said after an exodus caused by mass shootings and technical glitches that raised concerns about the potential spread of hate speech, fake news and other objectionable content.
“Almost all of them are either back or have said they are coming back,” Musk said.
Much of Tuesday’s session, which Mr Musk said was hastily thrown together after a BBC reporter sent him an inquiry, touched on familiar ground. Topics included Mr. Musk’s thoughts on firing thousands (it had to be done), his biggest challenges over the past six months (shutting down one of three datacenters that caused the outage) and peppering himself with impulsive tweets. to shoot himself in the foot (“I need bulletproof” boots.”)
The executive, whose other day jobs include running Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp, was at times evasive and at others brutally direct. Most of the questions focused on his thinking since launching the bid for the social media platform last year.
With regard to the future of Twitter, Mr. Musk said that he does not see any social network surviving without payment verification. He was addressing criticism about Twitter charging $8 for the blue check mark that once provided legitimacy to organizations and public figures. On Tuesday, he reiterated his position that a payment barrier was the only practical way to stop misinformation bots on online platforms.
In a Q&A after the interview with Space listeners, Mr. Musk also addressed Twitter’s merger with a newly formed shell firm called X Corp. The billionaire said, “Yes, there is more to it.” He still wants to make X, Tencent Holdings Ltd. Everything app similar to WeChat.
The confusing discussion touched on serious topics, such as tackling sexism, with the absurdist billionaire repeatedly claiming that his dog is now the CEO of Twitter.
Musk laughed and said, “I’m not the CEO of Twitter. My dog is the CEO of Twitter.” “He’s got a black turtleneck on, what more do you want?”
– With assistance from Craig Trudell.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)