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Twitter’s new owner and CEO, Elon Musk, is putting his stamp on the influential microblogging social network. Immediately after Musk bought Twitter on Oct. 27, the billionaire began making significant changes that include firing top executives and laying off half the staff.
Twitter’s saga with Musk, who also runs automaker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX, was chaotic even before he took control. He signed a deal in April to acquire the company but then attempted to back out of it, leading Twitter to sue him. After months of pretrial skirmishes, Musk closed the acquisition right before a court-ordered deadline.
Here’s the most recent news about Musk’s takeover of Twitter:Nov. 16: Musk demands ‘hardcore’ work culture
Musk emailed all staff to outline his vision for “Twitter 2.0,” which will require an “extremely hardcore” culture, with long hours and high intensity, according to Pragmatic Engineer writer (and former Uber engineer) Gergely Orosz. Employees must agree to this on Thursday or leave with three months of severance pay.
During testimony Wednesday over a Tesla shareholder case alleging that his salary as CEO is excessive, Musk also reportedly told the court that he does not want to be CEO of Tesla, and that his chief executive leadership of Twitter is a temporary arrangement.
“I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time,” he said, according to CNBC.
Twitter didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.Nov. 15: Workers fired for speaking about Musk on Slack
Employees who criticized Elon Musk in Twitter’s Slack channels were fired overnight via email, Platformer’s Casey Newton said a tweet. They were apparently told their “recent behavior has violated company policy.” It’s unclear how many people were affected.
Twitter didn’t respond to a request for comment.Nov. 14: Musk wants greater Twitter video support
Speaking via video link, Musk told business leaders during the G20 summit in Bali that he wants to see Twitter support more longer-form video to bring in more content creators. He also noted that he’s been working “at the absolute most amount … from morning til night, seven days a week” since the acquisition.Nov. 13: SpaceX reportedly buys major Twitter ad package
SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace company, ordered a Twitter “takeover” advertising package for its satellite internet service Starlink, CNBC reported. This will seemingly promote the service on people’s Twitter timelines in Spain and Australia and can cost more than $250,000. It comes after some advertisers paused campaigns due to the upheaval at Twitter.
SpaceX didn’t respond to a request for comment.Nov. 12: Thousands of contract employees seemingly terminated
Twitter cut thousands of contract employees, according to Platformer’s Casey Newton, Axios and CNBC, with Newton reporting that around 4,400 of Twitter’s roughly 5,500 contractors were affected. Most didn’t get any notice and found out because they lost access to the company’s email and internal communications systems, Newton reported.
The company didn’t respond to a request for comment.Nov. 11: Twitter Blue subscription option vanishes
The option to sign up for the $8 a month subscription service Twitter Blue is no longer available on Twitter’s iOS app, as earlier reported by The Verge. The shift comes days after the service launched for Apple devices and prior to its Android launch. Attempting to subscribe on desktop directs you to the iOS app.
CNET can confirm that this manifests in two distinct ways: the option to subscribe has vanished from the sidebar, and tapping the link gives you an error message.
“Thank you for your interest!” it reads. “Twitter Blue will be available in your country in the future. Please check back later.”
It’s unclear why the company paused signups for the service, but a large number of users reportedly bought verification to impersonate brands and celebrities. An internal note posted on its Slack said it stopped people from subscribing “to help address impersonation issues,” according to tech outlet Platformer’s Zoë Schiffer.
Twitter didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.Nov. 10: Musk bans remote work and warns of bankruptcy, attorney says he’s risking billions in FTC fines
Musk sent his first emails to employees on Nov. 9, warning that “the economic picture ahead is dire.” He banned remote work unless he personally approved it, according to Bloomberg, while The New York Times reported that he told workers “the absolute top priority is finding and suspending any verified bots/trolls/spam.”
An attorney on Twitter’s privacy team posted a message in the company’s Slack warning that Musk’s focus on monetizing its users is making him take dangerous steps, The Verge reported. It’s apparently at particular risk of incurring billions in fines from the Federal Trade Commission in the wake of a May settlement regarding the use of personal info to target ads.
Twitter’s chief privacy officer, Damien Kieran; Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner; and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty all resigned, The Verge noted. Kissner’s departure confirmed her departure in a tweet.
Musk also reportedly told employees bankruptcy was a possibility, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Two more Twitter executives — Yoel Roth, the company’s head of trust and safety, and Robin Wheeler, who led marketing and sales at Twitter — also resigned, according to the report. Wheeler then decided to stay at the company after Musk persuaded her to do so, Bloomberg reported. Roth, Wheeler and Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro didn’t respond to a request for comment. Nov. 9: Musk tries to reassure advertisers amid confusion about check marks
Twitter’s rollout of a new verification system is messy. Twitter started adding gray check marks and an “official” label to high-profile Twitter accounts but then scrapped some of the changes hours later.
In an hour-long live audio chat on Twitter later in the day, Musk said the new labels are an “aesthetic nightmare when looking at the Twitter feed” and “another way of creating a two-class system.”
Esther Crawford, who oversees early-stage products at Twitter, tweeted that the company would still be rolling out the “official” label but to government and commercial entities first.
