Although it's only been a few weeks since he bought Twitter for $44 billion, it seems like Chief Twit is already in serious trouble. Last week, Musk raised alarm about Twitter's revenue problems. He even suggested that the company might go bankrupt.
Before Musk took over Twitter, the company was already facing financial problems. However, over the last few weeks advertisers have left Twitter at an unprecedented rate.
Musk is mocking the advertisers who left, but he needs them more than they need him. Musk purchased Twitter via a leveraged buyout, so he'll be paying over $1 billion in interest over the next year.
So Twitter must turn a profit quickly. But Elon isn’t just putting off advertisers, his employees are becoming demoralized too. Elon Musk is well-known for being a demanding boss, which seemed to work at SpaceX and Tesla where employees are bought-in to a mission larger than themselves.
Twitter's only goal right now is to increase profits for Musk and other shareholders… and many employees believe that is straying away from Twitter's core mission. Musk's career so far has been about making something from nothing. However, Musk's Twitter takeover feels like the exact opposite.
The takeaway: Twitter is a different story for Elon. Low employee buy-in means that many are resigning en masse. Musk will have to do a lot if he is going to make a quick profit. However, his other companies may be able to assist. SpaceX purchased a huge advertising package from Twitter (reportedly around $250k to get their brand at the top of Twitter for a day).
