- Kyle Chua
Twitter Chaos: Possible Bankruptcy, No Remote Work, More Resignations
More drama is brewing at Twitter as new owner Elon Musk warns the company’s remaining staff to prepare for "difficult times ahead".
The so-called "sole director" of the social media giant in his first official all-hands meeting said the company is haemorrhaging so much money that “bankruptcy is not out of the question", as The Information reports. He added that the company could possibly have a "net negative cash flow of several billion dollars” in 2023.
Twitter reportedly hasn't turned a profit since 2019 and that's not likely to change anytime soon, with major advertisers continuing to flee the platform. The likes of General Motors, Audi, Pfizer, General Mills and Volkswagen have already paused their advertising spending, citing Musk's controversial approach to content moderation and calls to boycott from civil rights groups.
But Twitter's not out of options yet. Musk is banking on the success of the new Blue subscription service to pull the company out of the mud. “The reason we’re going hardcore on subscribers is to keep Twitter alive,” he said. Of course, only time will tell how his plan will work out.
In the same meeting, Musk told staff that they need to spend at least 40 hours a week in the office unless stated otherwise, effectively ending the company's "work from anywhere" policy. The world's richest man also axed other policies instituted by the previous leadership, including any form of remote work culture and the privilege of additional rest days, stressing his expectation of "intense work" moving forward. SpaceX and Tesla, which Musk also owns, similarly require mandatory in-office work.
Musk's impromptu meeting seemingly capped a chaotic day for Twitter, which also saw more executives resign. Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner, Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty, according to CNN, have all left the company. Their departure suggests the responsibility of ensuring compliance with regulations now falls on the engineers.
A Slack message supposedly shared by a Twitter lawyer claims the engineers have been asked to "self-certify" that they're complying with FTC requirements and other laws. "This will put huge amount of personal, professional and legal risk onto engineers," the message reads. "I anticipate that all of you will [be] pressured by management into pushing out changes that will likely lead to major incidents."
Twitter can't afford to violate the FTC's consent order, which stems from a settlement the company agreed to in May, as it could be slapped with billions of dollars worth of fines. The social media giant is required to employ a "comprehensive privacy and information security program" to review security risks, as part of the order.
Elon Musk for the first time since taking over Twitter addressed the company's remaining staff in an all-hands meeting.
During that meeting, he warned staff to prepare for "difficult times ahead," with bankruptcy supposedly a possibility for the company.
He also told them that they need to spend at least 40 hours a week in the office unless stated otherwise, effectively ending the company's "work from anywhere" policy
His impromptu meeting seemingly capped a chaotic day for Twitter, which also saw more executives resign.