- Steve Westly told Bloomberg that Twitter executives will have to learn to work at Elon Musk’s pace.
- The former Tesla board member said Musk could “shake things up” at the social media company.
- Twitter announced that Musk had joined its board of directors on Tuesday.
Former Tesla board member Steve Westly warned Twitter that it will have to learn to work at Elon Musk’s pace after the social media company announced on Tuesday that the Tesla CEO had joined its board of directors.
“My advice to Twitter executives is right now, because Elon is going to push you to pick up the pace,” Westly told Bloomberg on Tuesday. “Here we are on day one of this and he’s already saying ‘Hey, maybe it’s time to put the editing feature in there.’ I think he’s going to shake things up,” the Tesla investor added.
Prior to the announcement that Musk had joined Twitter’s board, the billionaire tweeted a poll: “Do you want an edit button?” A day later, Twitter announced it was working on an edit button for the app, though the company denied the development was related to Musk’s survey.
billionaire said he “looks forward to working with Parag & the Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in the coming months!” Wall Street analysts have speculated that Musk’s ideas for Twitter could lead to a clash with the company’s CEO, Parag Agrawal.
“It’s not going to be smooth sailing,” Westly said of Musk’s potential interactions with Agrawal. The longtime Tesla bull, who is the managing partner and founder of venture fund The Westly Group, also noted that Musk can be “a little temperamental and nervous,” but said his involvement could be a “big win for Twitter”.
With over 80 million followers, Musk is one of Twitter’s most powerful users, but he has been outspoken in his criticism of the app in the past. On March 25, he posted a poll asking if the platform adhered to “free speech” principles. In December, shortly after Agrawal replaced Jack Dorsey as CEO, Musk appeared to criticize the new CEO. He tweeted a photoshopped image of Joseph Stalin and former Soviet official Nikolai Yezhov, with Agrawal’s head photoshopped onto Stalin’s and Dorsey’s onto Yezhov’s.
Tesla’s CEO is also known for his intensity. At Tesla and SpaceX, he has pushed for lofty goals and has even been known to work up to 120 hour weeks and sleep on the factory floor. Former executives have said the billionaire can be difficult to work with, prone to temper tantrums and even instances of fiery employees — accusations he has vehemently denied, calling them “fake” on Twitter and saying he provides “clear and honest” feedback to employees.
Ultimately, Westly said Musk can help propel Twitter into the future and set an example for other Fortune 500 companies on how to build a direct relationship with consumers.
Twitter shares have risen this week, following Musk’s revelation on Monday that he had taken a 9.2% stake in the social media company and Tuesday’s announcement that he had joined the board. Shares closed Tuesday at $50.98, up nearly 30% from Friday’s close. They continue to trade around $50 per share.
Watch the full interview on Bloomberg’s website.
