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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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The future of Twitter could be hanging in the balance, as a reported mass exodus of employees is threatening the social media platform's capacity to keep functioning—But the controversial new owner, Elon Musk, appears confident about the survival of the app despite staff forcing the closure of its offices on Thursday.
Hundreds of Twitter employees who had to decide whether to leave the company or stay "to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0" under the new Musk ownership by 5 p.m. ET on Thursday reportedly resigned last night, leaving Twitter with their three-month severance pay.
According to The New York Times, Musk and his advisers held meetings with several employees deemed "critical" to try to stop them from leaving, but resignations still rolled in in the hundreds. On the same evening, the company announced the closure of his office buildings until Monday.
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The news has sparked renewed concerns over the future of Twitter, with the hashtags #RIPTwitter (featuring in more than 620k tweets as of Friday morning) and #TwitterDown—comparing the social media platform to a sinking ship—suddenly trending, as calls to move to alternative apps, including Mastodon, gained new strength.
In the midst of a frenzy over the future of Twitter, Musk appears confident. A Twitter user asked him: "What do people mean when they say Twitter is gonna shut down? Doesn't it kinda run itself? I feel like engineers are for changes not to just keep it running? I also don't know anything. Hey @elonmusk wanna do a Twitter space with me? Im confused."
Musk tweeted in reply: "The best people are staying, so I'm not super worried."
The billionaire has even shared some memes related to users discussing the death of Twitter, posting an image of someone throwing gang signs over a grave, with the Twitter logo pasted over the person and the gravestone.
What Has Happened So Far?
Musk's Twitter takeover has been filled with controversy, drama, U-turns and lawsuits. After months of back and forth between the billionaire and Twitter, Musk finally acquired the company in late October for his original offer of $44 billion.
But what he found himself in control of was a company under significant financial pressure from previous debt amid a global economic slump that has hit the technology sector hard.
He didn't waste time making significant changes to the company, firing some of Twitter's top executives—reportedly including Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and legal affairs and policy chief Vijaya Gadde. He then announced the layoffs of half of Twitter's total workforce of 7,500.
Musk's decision to turn Twitter's verified blue badge into a feature that can be purchased by any user who's willing to subscribe to the platform's premium plan, Twitter Blue, has caused much controversy. It led to a couple of wild days on Twitter, as users started to impersonate official accounts at a crucial time for the U.S., as the country focused on the midterms.
The layoffs—as well as concerns over changes to Twitter's moderation policies—have thrown the social media platform into chaos, while the 51-year-old billionaire has yet to provide a clear plan for how he intends to move the company forward.
According to anonymous sources cited by The New York Times in an article published on November 11, Musk told employees in a meeting that Twitter's situation is actually concerning.
"There's a massive negative cash flow, and bankruptcy is not out of the question," Musk reportedly said, according to a recording heard by the newspaper.
"Those who are able to go hard core and play to win, Twitter is a good place. And those who are not, totally understand, but then Twitter is not for you," he added.
But as hundreds reportedly decided that Twitter was, indeed, not for them, Twitter could now be on the brink of going down, as users suggest. Its future clearly remains uncertain.
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