Company news in brief
Twitter sacks half of staff
Twitter sacked half of its 7 500-strong staff on Friday as new owner Elon Musk launched his major overhaul of the troubled company just a week after his blockbuster takeover.
An internal document seen by AFP said "roughly 50%" of employees were impacted and would be denied access to company computers and email on an immediate basis.
The cull is part of Musk's push to find ways to pay for the mammoth US$44 billion deal for which he took on billions of dollars in debt and sold US$15.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla, his electric car company.
Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief, is said to owe US$1 billion in annual interest alone to pay for a deal he tried to wiggle out from almost as soon as he made it in April.
Musk has been scrambling to find new ways for Twitter to make money after his mammoth buyout, including an idea to charge users US$8 a month for verified accounts.
The moves would help overcome the potential loss of advertisers, Twitter's main source of revenue, with many of the world's top brands putting their ad buys on hold, spooked by Musk's well-known disdain for content controls.
Though extremely influential with opinion-makers and celebrities, the California company has long struggled to generate profit and has failed to keep pace with Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in gaining new users.
In the sign that matters were not improving, data showed Twitter may have lost more than a million users since Musk took over.
Estimates from Bot Sentinel, a firm that tracks Twitter accounts, suggested that more than 875 000 users deactivated their accounts between October 27 and November 1, while half a million more were suspended. – Fin24/AFP
Twitter sacked half of its 7 500-strong staff on Friday as new owner Elon Musk launched his major overhaul of the troubled company just a week after his blockbuster takeover.
An internal document seen by AFP said "roughly 50%" of employees were impacted and would be denied access to company computers and email on an immediate basis.
The cull is part of Musk's push to find ways to pay for the mammoth US$44 billion deal for which he took on billions of dollars in debt and sold US$15.5 billion worth of shares in Tesla, his electric car company.
Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief, is said to owe US$1 billion in annual interest alone to pay for a deal he tried to wiggle out from almost as soon as he made it in April.
Musk has been scrambling to find new ways for Twitter to make money after his mammoth buyout, including an idea to charge users US$8 a month for verified accounts.
The moves would help overcome the potential loss of advertisers, Twitter's main source of revenue, with many of the world's top brands putting their ad buys on hold, spooked by Musk's well-known disdain for content controls.
Though extremely influential with opinion-makers and celebrities, the California company has long struggled to generate profit and has failed to keep pace with Facebook, Instagram and TikTok in gaining new users.
In the sign that matters were not improving, data showed Twitter may have lost more than a million users since Musk took over.
Estimates from Bot Sentinel, a firm that tracks Twitter accounts, suggested that more than 875 000 users deactivated their accounts between October 27 and November 1, while half a million more were suspended. – Fin24/AFP
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