Challenges abound after Musk's Twitter takeover
STORY: With Twitter now in the hands of the world’s richest person - following months of legal drama that sowed doubt over whether Elon Musk would own the company at all - analysts say now the real hard work begins.
Wedbush Securities Managing Director Daniel Ives told Reuters the billionaire has his work cut out for him.
"This is going to be very difficult. Culturally, Musk and Twitter - exact opposites. And I think it's going to take time here. He's going to fire a lot of people, and I don't expect champagne dinners anytime soon at Twitter headquarters. Quite a tough work to be done first. And that's going to be one of his challenges."
Musk has already swung the ax, purging the company's CEO, CFO and its legal affairs and policy chief.
Current and former employees who spoke with Reuters said they expect members of Twitter’s trust and security team – which includes content moderators – to be among Musk’s deepest job cuts.
The self-described "free speech absolutist" has said he wants to prevent Twitter from becoming an echo chamber for hate and division.
On Friday, rapper Kanye West's Twitter profile, which was suspended for posting anti-Semitic remarks, was back on the platform.
Musk said it was restored before he acquired Twitter.
He's also said he would reinstate former U.S. President Donald Trump’s account.
On Friday, Trump said he was happy Twitter was in "sane hands" but he did not say whether he would return to his account.
Besides shaping what he called "the common digital town square," Musk has also said he wants to turn Twitter into a so-called "super app" that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and ride-hailing.
"He's going to have to increase engagement. Clearly, headcount cuts will be on the horizon. And then the journey to creating a WeChat-like app that we see in China, that's really, I think, the ultimate strategic goal for Musk when it comes to Twitter."
According to a source, Musk has told investors he also plans to sell premium Twitter subscriptions to reduce reliance on ads, allow content creators to make money and enable payments.
