Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images
Elon Musk on Wednesday night warned Twitter employees left behind after mass layoffs that if they don’t increase subscription revenue, the company is at risk.
What is happening: In a midnight email to staff, his first since taking control of the company two weeks ago, Musk also issued a new mandate to return to office that, according to sources inside Twitter, will that many employees leave.
- Separately, three executives responsible for security and compliance resigned, adding to the atmosphere of turmoil.
Details: In the note obtained by Axios, Musk apologized for not reaching out to his employees sooner, saying, “I’m sorry this is my first email to the entire company, but there’s no way to cover this up.”
- “Frankly, the economic picture ahead is dire, especially for a company like ours that is so dependent on advertising in a challenging economic climate… The road ahead is arduous and will require intensive work to succeed.”
- Musk said his concerns about Twitter’s reliance on ad revenue are what fueled his aggressive push into subscriptions over the past ten days, specifically raising the price to $8 a month and giving verification badges to every subscriber.
- “Without significant subscription revenue, there’s a good chance Twitter won’t survive the next economic downturn,” he wrote, adding that he wants the company to move toward a 50/50 split between revenue from subscriptions and advertising.
Between the lines: The widely-anticipated and previously reported return-to-office order was included in the email sent at midnight Wednesday and went into effect starting Thursday, the following day.
Be smart: The new policy is likely to speed up the demolition, sources told Axios.
- Twitter’s previous management had committed the company to a permanent policy of flexible and remote working.
Also on Thursday, Twitter’s chiefs of information security, privacy and compliance resigned, per Platformer’s Casey Newton.
- The Verge reported that a lawyer sent a message to colleagues on Twitter warning that Musk risks putting the company in further violation of a 2011 Federal Trade Commission consent decree about data privacy for which it has already paid. many fines.
- The FTC told the Washington Post in a declaration, “We are following the developments on Twitter with deep concern. No CEO or company is above the law and companies must follow our consent decrees.”
The big picture: Advertisers remain skeptical of Musk’s moves, even after he tried to reassure them in a public discussion on Twitter spaces Wednesday.
- Prominent users have expressed themselves frustration with Musk’s new verification program, arguing that it makes it difficult to distinguish official accounts from fake ones.
