Elon Musk shook things up at Twitter at an emergency all-hands meeting when he mentioned he could not rule out the company filing for bankruptcy protection next year, it is cannot address its cash-burn issues. Musk apparently made the comment in response to a question from an employee about the company’s run-rate.
Musk also informed employees that they would need to be physically present in the office for 40 hours per week going forward, or they would need to file resignation letters. Previously Twitter allowed employees to work from anywhere, however Musk is adamant about workers showing up to company premises to work.
Several top executives have also left the company in recent days. Chief information security officer Lea Kissner, head of ad sales, Robin Wheeler, and head of Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth, have departed the company.
Musk has begun a push to find ways to monetize the platform, including by introducing an $8 per month charge for a verification badge. It is expected more programs will be introduced in the future.
In the meantime, Twitter has been hard hit financially, as major advertisers have paused their advertising on the platform in response to activist campaigns that have arisen to protest the loosening of content moderation standards. Volkswagen, GM, and General Mills have pulled or paused their advertising campaigns in response to the possibility Musk may reduce censorship on the platform.
In a startling development, the Federal Trade Commission issued a warning to Twitter, noting that the commission is watching the company “with deep concern” after the platform’s top privacy and compliance officers quit. According to the FTC, that potentially put it at risk of violating regulatory orders.
“We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” Douglas Farrar, the FTC’s director of public affairs, said in a statement.
“No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees. Our revised consent order gives us new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them,” Farrar said.
In May, Twitter had agreed to pay $150 million over allegations by the FTC that it misused private information, like phone numbers, to target advertising to users, after indicating to users that the information was collected only for security reasons.
