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Elon Musk said on Tuesday that Twitter is now “roughly even,” claiming that most of the advertisers who left the platform after his takeover have now returned, as the billionaire dismissed concerns about hate speech and misinformation on the website in one interview with the BBC on Twitter Spaces.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk said the company is now pausing roughly as most advertisers have … [+]
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Key factors
Addressing the large-scale layoffs at the company since taking over, Musk confirmed that Twitter’s headcount was down to about 1,500 from “just under 8,000” when he took over the company.
The billionaire claimed that he sometimes sleeps on the couch in the library of Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco.
When facing over growing hate speech On the platform, an agitated Musk pushed back, asking the BBC reporter for an example before saying: “You can’t even name one… you just lied.”
On the subject of Covid misinformation, Musk simply said that “Covid is no longer a problem”, before wrongly accusing the BBC of spreading misinformation about masking and vaccination.
Midway through the interview, Musk informed the interviewer that he was “no longer CEO… my dog Floki has taken over,” repeating himself. a joke did on Twitter two months ago.
Forbes rating
According to our estimates, Elon Musk’s current net worth is $189.1 billion, making him the second richest person in the world. In the interview, however, the billionaire refused to discuss his net worth, simply admitting that he is a “very rich man.”
News Peg
The interview with the BBC on Tuesday night came after the British public broadcaster expressed its opposition to being labeled as “government-funded media”. In a statement, the BBC said it “is, and always has been, independent” and is only “funded by the British public through the license fee”. Musk appeared to agree with the BBC’s concerns about the label during the interview, saying he has “the utmost respect” for the broadcaster. Musk said then that Twitter would adjust its labeling to show that the BBC is “publicly funded”, to ensure accuracy.
Amazing fact
Musk has made no secret of the fact that he believes he overpaid for Twitter. In the interview, the billionaire acknowledged that he decided to go ahead with his $44 billion purchase of the company, after repeated efforts to back out, because a judge would have forced him to do the same anyway.
tangent
Confirming a observation earlier this Tuesday, Musk told the BBC that all “legacy verified” accounts will lose their blue marks next week unless they pay for a Twitter Blue subscription.
Crucial appointment
Musk, who has become increasingly critical of the Democratic Party and even express support for Republicans he told the BBC: “About half the country voted for Trump … I wasn’t one of them.”
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Elon Musk tells the BBC that owning Twitter has been quite painful (BBC)
