'Twitter is like a plane, headed towards ground...' Musk reveals firm has just $1 billion in cash

By Team Newsable | First Published Dec 22, 2022, 6:41 PM IST

Musk said the situation has been grim for the company since May this year. This comes shortly after Musk announced on Twitter that he will be stepping down as the CEO of the social media giant and is looking for a successor.

Elon Musk has described Twitter as a "plane that is headed towards the ground at high speed" after revealing that the company is burning through $3 billion a year. "This company is like you're in a plane that's headed towards the ground at high speed, with the engines on fire, and the controls don't work," Musk said in a Twitter Space.

"Not good since Twitter has $1 billion in cash. That's why I spent the past five weeks cutting costs like crazy," he told Twitter Spaces, a feature of the platform he bought for $44 billion.

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When the billionaire promised to resign as CEO once he found someone "foolish enough" to succeed him, he followed that promise with a dire warning about the financial situation of the social media firm. Musk made that pledge after asking Twitter users if they thought he should stay in the position after buying the firm for $44 billion. 57.5 percent of the 17.5 million votes polled in the online survey supported the dismissal of Musk.

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He has said he plans to stay involved in day-to-day operations by overseeing Twitter's software and server teams. Since seizing the helm in late October, Musk's tenure as CEO has been characterised by hastily announced regulations and policy changes that are frequently retracted or altered shortly after going public.

In an earlier statement this week, he claimed to have "spent the last five weeks slashing expenses like crazy" while also working to improve the site's premium membership service.

In order to address hate speech and other issues on the site, Twitter had established a council of trust and safety experts in 2016, but Musk fired more than half of the company's employees, dismissed contract content moderators, and disbanded the group.

It's important to note that Musk bought the business only after a protracted process that included Twitter suing him in an effort to pressure him into closing the deal.

Also Read | Elon Musk confirms he will step down as Twitter CEO, but after finding replacement

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