Twitter could go bankrupt, lose billions next year, Musk tells staff

Musk aims to grow Twitter users by 1 billion, then link accounts to debit cards.

See full article...

 

[chriskrum]

Decoding Musk:

By "bank" he doesn't mean bank...

He means customers (AKA marks) will be able to by crypto tokens, Twitcoins, which will be traded on Twitexchange.

Libertarian utopia.

 

[Statistical]

Is that Reuters report accurate? I thought Twitter had $5-$6 billion in debt before Musk borrowed $13 more to buy it, bringing the total debt to ~$18 Billion.

$18B in debt. The INTEREST ALONE is $1.2B a year.

 

[Random_stranger]

If he can just buy Facebook and destroy that too I'd be so happy.

I'd prefer Fox News, Newsmax, OANN, etc..

 

[CenterLess]

Reading the comments for Musk/Twitter stories on Foxnews.com you’ll see a lot of people ready get sign over their life savings to him smh

If they're that far gone, let them. They'll get exactly what they deserve.

 

[Derecho Imminent]

Here's an interesting question: did that tweet trend on Twitter? Because if it did, then that could be seen as more than just Section 230-protected "someone else posted this, so it's not my problem". Because not only would the checkmark be a platform-created mechanism that effectively endorses the misinformation, the platform also promoted its misinformation.

Im usually against the idea that presenting content is equivalent to promotion, but in this case he literally claimed that it was VERIFIED.

Narrator: it wasnt verified.

 

[CenterLess]

If he can just buy Facebook and destroy that too I'd be so happy.

He's going to have to wait for Facebook to fall a lot further before he could even contemplate it. I'm so sure he could even "secure financing" like he did with Twitter given the state of his current adventures with the company he just bought. No banker is going to lend him money unless he puts up sizeable collateral and pay exorbitant rates.

 

[graylshaped]

He is broken. Can we fix him? As in repairing, not as in fixing a dog, though that might be a good thing, too.

 

[Derecho Imminent]

"We have a problem. We arent making money and we have interest payments coming due and NO ONE will loan us more money"
"If we were a bank we could loan ourselves money, hehe"
Musk: "Hmm, I just had a great idea.."

 

[Veritas super omens]

How do we convince Elon that the purchase of Fox would be a very cunning stunt. Maybe he could destroy that AND twitter simultneously!

 

[Shavano]

Decoding Musk:

By "bank" he doesn't mean bank...

He means customers (AKA marks) will be able to by crypto tokens, Twitcoins, which will be traded on Twitexchange.

Libertarian utopia.

This will work out just the way it didn't for Facebook Meta.

But maybe there's a master plan. Once Twitter doing financial transactions, he'll pay the employees in Twitter money. You're on your own turning that into actual money. Maybe he'll also try to pay his investors the same way. NFT's, maybe. Twitter is well positioned to become the next crypto exchange to lose the better part of what's left of your crypto coins.

 

[JonnyOneNote]

Elon Musk is using dumpTruck's playbook: Just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. (Advertisers, this is your hint to run like hell away from the Twit Machine.)

 

[JiiHoo]

 

[klarg]

I think I know what is going on with the Elon and Twitter - each morning he gets cranked up and then has “ideas.”

 

[MMarsh]

Here's an interesting question: did that tweet trend on Twitter? Because if it did, then that could be seen as more than just Section 230-protected "someone else posted this, so it's not my problem". Because not only would the checkmark be a platform-created mechanism that effectively endorses the misinformation, the platform also promoted its misinformation.

That's a very interesting point.
We have Section 230 case law that says "yeah, the law means exactly what it says, a platform operator is not liable for the content that a user posts on the platform and that the platform displays to other users."

But, as far as I know, the question of "is a platform operator liable for content that is posted by a user, but is endorsed and promoted by the platform in a way that goes beyond simple passive display?" remains open.

I can think of a few lines of reasoning, that seem at first glance to be legally sound, that end up at "well, Section 230 protects the platform if it's just hosting and distributing user content, but if the platform operator has formally endorsed a piece of content and is actively amplifying it beyond its natural organic reach, then maybe the platform operator does become responsible in the same way that a newspaper publisher is responsible for its columnists."

 

[KeyboardWeeb]

Well then Elon should just steal the first idea I had when this saga began, namely launch a "game" that is a cross between Kickstarter and Survivor. Take micropayments for people to vote to un-ban Trump.

Take more micropayments to keep him banned. Every day (or hour or minute), calculate the votes to determine whether Trump is allowed to tweet right then. If Trump's fans keep going long after his foes get bored of the game, have Twitter interns keep voting for banning him using fake money.

Move fast before the FTC gets wind of this. Maybe they'll be laughing too hard to do anything. By the time they recover, move Twitter to an island and declare it a sovereign nation. Expand the game to any public personage who will inspire a voting war.

I recently watched an anime where Japan gets its first nuclear attack submarine, complete with the capability to launch nuclear-tipped torpedoes, and on her first cruise her skipper and crew declare themselves a sovereign nation. Think Hunt for Red October, but stupid(er).

Somehow, the Chief Twit saga has been more stupid than that.

I am contemplating whether the Chief Twit saga has been more stupid than Valvrave the Liberator, or Skelter Heaven, both of which make the sub-nation anime look like Shakespeare.

However, I will say the Chief Twit saga has been more entertaining than any of those thus far.

 

[ArsSide]

They can give themselves a bridge loan to keep themselves afloat!

 

[Moonscript]

Musk is really laying bare the absurdity of the idea that billionaires earned their vast fortunes, and that CEOs are necessary to run a company. Employees at Tesla and SpaceX should be absolutely outraged that the output of their labor has gone to stuff the pockets of this damned fool.

I daydream about seeing a SpaceX rocket containing a Tesla with Musk glued into the driver's seat, lifting off in the general direction of Mars. And I think to myself, "I hope it doesn't hit the planet. What has Mars done to us?"

 

[fancysunrise]

No not a bank. What you need to do is incorporate as a nation, then start printing your own money.

And thenceforth I shall be hailed by my subjects by my new crown title his majesty the lord of memes, chief twit, and techno-king, in that order, and my realm all the planet Mars shall gleam like the glint in a doge's eye, as will be the face of our currency.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

I daydream about seeing a SpaceX rocket containing a Tesla with Musk glued into the driver's seat, lifting off in the general direction of Mars. And I think to myself, "I hope it doesn't hit the planet. What has Mars done to us?"

Definitely not going through standard interplanetary decontamination procedures!

I recently watched an anime where Japan gets its first nuclear attack submarine, complete with the capability to launch nuclear-tipped torpedoes, and on her first cruise her skipper and crew declare themselves a sovereign nation. Think Hunt for Red October, but stupid(er).

Somehow, the Chief Twit saga has been more stupid than that.

I am contemplating whether the Chief Twit saga has been more stupid than Valvrave the Liberator, or Skelter Heaven, both of which make the sub-nation anime look like Shakespeare.

However, I will say the Chief Twit saga has been more entertaining than any of those thus far.

Dude, you can name-drop classics here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silent_Service

 

[gregraygun]

Maybe Elon should follow his own dream, and visit Mars for a bit?

 

[Da Truff]

Twitter and FTX merger to be announced on Monday.

 

[Lemurion]

I just cannot imagine any circumstances in which I would think it was a good idea to give Elon Musk's Twitter any sort of financial information, let alone access to a debit card.

 

[Drjaydub]

Yup seems Musk is in full ”trigger bankruptcy” mode. Get loads of that debt written off, he gets to deduct it from his taxes for years, and leave Twitter a smoking hole in the ground and someone else’s problem.

That guy really, really didn’t want to get deposed for that trial, did he?

I mean this shit is bat crap crazy for even a show like ”Silicon Valley”.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

Yup seems Musk is in full ”trigger bankruptcy” mode. Get loads of that debt written off, he gets to deduct it from his taxes for years, and leave Twitter a smoking hole in the ground and someone else’s problem.

He owes a lot of people a lot of money, so I don't see how that's going to work out for him.

 

[Shavano]

it’s not Elon filing for bankruptcy. It’s be the COMPANY. Ffs, you’d think people actually still went to journalism school.

they won't if Musk has anything to say about it.

 

[CenterLess]

Do not let Elon Musk touch your bank account. Elon Musk is not a real financial services representative.

Who do you think we are? Elon?

 

[Deleted member 174040]

Let me just say that if you work at twitter right now your top priority is polishing up your resume. Call in sick if you need the time to do it. Or just skip work. There's really nothing else you should be working on professionally. You may love the company but its going down and the smart move is to find someplace else that can support you and your family that doesn't cut it's staff in half and then double the required work hours of remaining staff while laughing at the fact that people are making really funny jokes on your product while simultaneously driving away all your customers.

Problem is that there’s likely to be a lot of competition in the market:

“Twitter's internal team that vets new product launches was laid off shortly before Elon Musk launched the revamped Twitter Blue, leading to a frenzy of last-minute defenses against impersonation accounts…”

 

[TheDudeConfides]

In the narrowest sense that might be true, but it would be the dumbest thing Musk has done yet, and he has done some very very dumb things, to obliterate the morale of 3000 tech workers and then put them on a "secret" conference call. There must have been every expectation of this going completely public almost immediately.

My thoughts exactly. Piss off over 3,000 people, fire their coworkers and friends on a whim, saddle their company with choking amounts of debt, act like a narcissistic jackass and threaten them with their jobs unless they become “hardcore”, then tell them drastic and significant news and expect that everyone will keep that a secret.

Gosh I can’t believe it leaked!

 

[netlawyer]

Beyond pretensions to "free speech," I don't get the impression that he gave any serious thought to how a Musk-led Twitter would actually operate. He waived due diligence, so he never got to do any kind of deep dive into the company's existing operations and finances. Only now, after he got the keys and fired the top level executive team does he actually see what he purchased.

I doubt that he intended to light the place on fire. But, avoiding his current predicament would have meant hitting pause and actually learning how things are done before making wholesale changes. Instead, he presumed that nobody did anything right, and is now flailing from one unsustainable idea to another. He's the hammer that sees nothing but nails, and decides to use a wrecking ball instead.

I made the comment on a previous thread (that I will not repeat because it was long) - that Musk came into Twitter as a user of Twitter. Not only just a user, but King Elon edge-lord of Twitter - and all he saw was synchophatic replies.

He made the fundamental mistake of thinking his experience of Twitter is what Twitter is. No understanding of the users as a whole. No understanding of what was going on behind the scenes. No understanding of the importance of advertisers.

It would be like buying your favorite bar because you have fun and like to hang out there. And then you show up and you have inventory, insurance, lease payments, employee scheduling and payroll - and you need to save money, so you fire the bookkeeper and the guy that manages the inventory and the entire kitchen staff - because you never ate there so why do you need to serve food?

 

[CenterLess]

Elon Musk is going to sell Twitter soon. After he has done massive damage to the platform, it is going to take years to recover from the damage that Elon Musk is now creating. Turning Twitter into a bank is just Elon Musk throwing panic words up in the air. Its going to be a different thing tomorrow and the day after that until he sells Twitter to a person that can properly run company, but the current damage done now means its going to take a long time for an recovery to happen.

Who is going to buy the equivalent of a totaled car?!!

 

[nartreb]

Oh great... Musk has his personal attorney sending messages to all Twitter employees now?

https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/11/m...iable-if-company-violates-ftc-consent-decree/
That's just absurd on many levels.

 

[Rob_Arctor]

The reason creators make money on Twitch and Youtube is because they provide actual content. What does Twitter offer at all that is even slightly more competitive than those option, or sites such as Patron/Subscribestar?

MKBHD, one of the major tech Youtuber tried to explain to him, (apparently Elon follows him) that in order to attract content creators Twitter would have to provide them with monetization options that are more attractive than these on Twitch and YT. These guys have the power because they provide what I wanna watch. Not sure why I'd switch to a hypothetical Twitter video service (cost anyone ?) to watch MKDHD or Linus techTtips (to keep it simple) or .So much goodwill lost...

 

[Shavano]

Musk kept his responses brief and said top priorities included growing Twitter’s user base by 1 billion (while critically monetizing more users), compensating creators on the platform, and improving Twitter search. In short, he asked his remaining team members to go “hardcore” to make Twitter “more compelling,” so he can sell that product to users, or else resign.

Thing is he has done nothing for Twitter employees that would engender that kind of loyalty. Any residual loyalty employees had to Twitter pre-Musk is being eroded really fast.

 

[Snarky Robot]

This is actually smart. What? Stop looking at me like that, it is.

Elon Musk has succeeded when he can get government subsidies. Banks get subsidies from government bailouts. He has, finally, found a way to turn Twitter into an industry that he understands: getting government money.

You'll notice I didn't say anything about it working.

 

[CenterLess]

It happened at least once.

History's most expensive objective lesson.

 

[abazigal]

I must say, it has been pretty surreal following the downfall of twitter, in twitter itself (albeit in a third party twitter app). Considering that this is what Twitter supposedly excels at, there is a certain delicious irony to it.

 

[Wheels Of Confusion]

Someone stitched together IP cam footage of Musk's tour of Twitter HQ.

 

[coslie]

That's a very interesting point.
We have Section 230 case law that says "yeah, the law means exactly what it says, a platform operator is not liable for the content that a user posts on the platform and that the platform displays to other users."

But, as far as I know, the question of "is a platform operator liable for content that is posted by a user, but is endorsed and promoted by the platform in a way that goes beyond simple passive display?" remains open.

I can think of a few lines of reasoning, that seem at first glance to be legally sound, that end up at "well, Section 230 protects the platform if it's just hosting and distributing user content, but if the platform operator has formally endorsed a piece of content and is actively amplifying it beyond its natural organic reach, then maybe the platform operator does become responsible in the same way that a newspaper publisher is responsible for its columnists."

It seems to me that endorsing, promoting, and even the content of the tweets is kind of beside the point. It's the impersonation that's the issue. Twitter is/was endorsing the identity of the supposed author not the contents of the post, and taking money for it.

Effectively Twitter said that Eli Lilly and Company said they were giving away free insulin.