As he starts his first week as the owner of the social media network, the billionaire Elon Musk is already mulling over significant improvements for Twitter, but he also faces significant obstacles.
According to a company filing submitted on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Twitter’s new owner dismissed the board of directors and replaced them with himself as the board’s lone member. Later, Musk claimed on Twitter that the new board structure is “temporary,” although he gave no further information.
Additionally, he is experimenting with charging users for verification. How much would people be willing to pay for the blue check mark that Twitter has previously used to verify higher-profile accounts so that other users know it’s really them? This was the question posed in a survey that a venture capitalist working with Musk tweeted.
The verified account of Musk responded, “Interesting.”
The mark, which is frequently given to journalists, politicians, businessmen, and celebrities, has been mocked by critics as an exclusive status symbol.
However, Twitter also employs the blue check mark as an additional weapon to combat misinformation originating from accounts that are impersonating individuals by validating activists, people who unexpectedly find themselves in the news, as well as obscure journalists at small magazines throughout the world.
In response to a user’s request for assistance in becoming verified, Musk tweeted on Sunday, “The entire verification process is being revamped right now.”
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a billionaire Saudi, and his Kingdom Holding Company rolled over a combined $1.89 billion in Twitter shares on Friday, becoming the company’s second-largest shareholders after Musk. Some politicians, notably Connecticut senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, expressed anxiety over the news.
Murphy tweeted that he had asked the Committee on Foreign Stake, which assesses foreign buyers’ purchases of American companies, to look at the national security implications of the kingdom’s investment in Twitter.
Murphy tweeted that it was concerning that Saudi Arabia was now the second-largest owner of a significant social media site and that they had an “obvious interest in restricting political expression and having an impact on U.S. politics.” “CFIUS should conduct a review since there is a clear national security issue at stake.”
After assuming control of the social networking platform, Musk asked certain investors and acquaintances from the tech industry to help with the company’s makeover, which is probably going to involve staff changes. CEO Parag Agrawal and other key executives were sacked by Musk last week.
It has been unclear whether or when he might start making more significant layoffs.
San Jose State University associate finance professor Matthew Faulkner predicted that there will be a significant number of layoffs. Faulkner brought out the necessity for cost-cutting following Musk’s expensive purchase of Twitter as well as the platform’s ongoing challenges with making a profit. Musk may also want to quickly weed out staff members who don’t support his mission in order to provide those who do a sense of security.
You don’t want your staff to be running around in fear, Faulkner added. That doesn’t inspire people, she said.
Sriram Krishnan, a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, who promised to contribute to Musk’s attempt to acquire the company and take it private back in the spring, is among others who have indicated they are assisting Musk.
Elon Musk is the person to make it happen, according to Krishnan, a former Twitter product leader, who stated in a tweet that it is “a highly important company and can have a great impact on the globe.”
Venture capitalist Jason Calacanis stated over the weekend that he is “hanging around at Twitter a little and just trying to be as helpful as possible during the changeover” and that he tweeted the poll asking users whether they would pay for verification.
The team, “has a very extensive plan to limit the number (and visibility of) bots, spammers, and negative actors on the network,” according to Calacanis. Additionally, he polled Twitter users to see if they would be willing to pay $5 to $15 per month, to “be verified and obtain a blue checkmark” on Twitter. Because Twitter relies on advertising for funding, the majority of users can currently use it for free.
Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion in April, but the transaction wasn’t finalized until Thursday night after attempts to back out resulted in a drawn-out legal battle with the company. Currently, Musk’s attorneys are requesting that the Delaware Chancery Court dismiss the case, according to a court document that was made public on Monday. If they didn’t reach an agreement by the end of last week, the two parties were scheduled to go to trial in November.
Since the beginning of the year, Musk has made a number of statements about how to improve Twitter, but it is yet unknown which suggestions he will give priority to.
In order to support free expression, he has pledged to relax some of Twitter’s content limitations, but on Friday he warned that no significant decisions on the content or the reinstatement of banned accounts will be made until a “content moderation committee” with a range of perspectives is in place. Later, he added a caveat to that statement by tweeting, “Anyone suspended for minor & questionable reasons will be released from Twitter jail.”
The CEO of a cryptocurrency exchange that contributed $500 million to Musk’s acquisition of Twitter said there were several reasons why the deal had his support, including the possibility that Musk would convert Twitter into a company that supported cryptocurrencies and the idea of Web3, which many cryptocurrency enthusiasts believe will usher in the next generation of the internet.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated to CNBC on Monday, “We want to make sure that cryptocurrency has a seat at the table when it comes to free speech. Additionally, there are more tactical issues, such as our desire to assist Twitter in integrating with Web3 when it is ready.
He claimed that several of Musk’s current problems, like the idea to charge a premium membership fee for additional people, might be resolved with the help of cryptocurrencies.
He said cryptocurrency may be used as a form of payment to accomplish that extremely easily and worldwide.
