After less than two months at the helm of Twitter, Elon Musk he asked his followers if he should keep the position and promised to abide by the result of the poll. Users opined that he should resign.
It is the latest episode in a tumultuous series of events that have unfolded since it acquired the social network for $44 billion. In less than two months, Musk cut the workforce in half of the company; fired most of its executives, and asked the remaining employees to commit to work in “hard” hours.
He promised to restore free speech on the platform, but later banned several journalists and account owners he didn’t approve of. Tried to popularize paid subscriptions among users, but was particularly successful between jokers and satirists. He scared off advertisers, who cut spending and raised alarm bells at regulatory offices, especially in Europe.
This is how the events occurred:
October 27: Musk takes control
After being forced to close the deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Musk announces that he has taken ownership of the social network. The first act of him is to fire the board along with CEO Parag Agrawal; CFO Ned Segal; Chief Legal and Policy Vijaya Gadde; and General Counsel Sean Edgett, among others in executive leadership.
October 28: Brands begin to pause their spending
As Musk plans to unban the accounts and says he will charge for user verification, advertisers are starting to get nervous. General Motors suspends ads and others review their Twitter budgets.
October 31: Protest of the main tweeters
Amid rumors of plans to charge existing verified accounts, bestselling author Stephen King tweets: $20 a month to keep my little blue tick? To a ch…… that, they should pay me. If that is instituted, I will go as Enron.”
Musk responded: “We have to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot be completely dependent on advertisers. How about 8 dollars?
Musk is committed to promoting the product. A possible release date of November 7 is being debated.
November 3: Mass layoffs begin
A memo is sent to all employees informing them of impending layoffs and to watch for an email with the subject line “Your Role at Twitter”.
Badge access to offices is suspended as some 3,700 employees receive notice that they have been cut off. Realizing that employees essential to business continuity have been mistakenly terminated, some are asked to return.
November 5: Dorsey apologizes
Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who was a supporter of the Musk acquisition, tweets:
“I realize that many are angry with me. I am responsible for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the size of the company too fast. I apologize for that,” he said.
Nov 8 – Musk sells more Tesla stock
Despite an earlier promise not to sell any more Tesla shares, Musk frees up an additional $3.95 billion, bringing the total sold over the past year. to $36 billion at the time.
November 9: Musk answers questions from advertisers
In an attempt to stop brands from leaving the platform, Musk hosts a Q&A of Twitter Spaces with Head of Sales Robin Wheeler, Head of Trust and Safety Yoel Roth and CEO of the Interactive archyde news Bureau, David Cohen.
Musk brainstorms how his subscription product can grow by creating more commerce on the platform.
Soon after, the company’s blue checkmark option becomes available for purchase and immediately becomes into a tool for imitators. An account posing as Nintendo posts an image of Super Mario holding up a middle finger, while a fake Eli Lilly account tweets that insulin is now free. A Tesla account impersonator jokes about the automaker’s safety record. Politicians and celebrities are also fooled.
November 10: More key executives resign
In his first meeting with the employees, Musk tells them to prepare for 80 hour work weeks and requires everyone to return to the office full time, ending remote work and other benefits like free food.
He also reports that the company’s bankruptcy is not out of the question if it doesn’t start generating more cash, and that teams need to move urgently to sell the $8 subscription product.
Various executives in charge of maintaining Twitter safe and responsible to its users resigned, including Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner; Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty. Later, it is revealed that both Roth and Wheeler have resigned, though Wheeler returns soon after.
November 11: Twitter adds badges labeled ‘official’
Twitter adds “official” badges to verified accounts in a few places, though confusion abounds.
More brands are coming off the platform, including the Playbill theater guide. “Due to your tolerance of hate, negativity and misinformation, our time with the social media platform has come to an end,” the company said in a statement.
November 16: Musk does not want to be CEO
In a trial in Delaware Chancery Court over his $55 billion Tesla payment, Musk says that Doesn’t Want to Be CEO of Electric Carmakerlet alone Twitter or any other company. He says he expects the social network’s restructuring to be complete by the end of next week, that he plans to spend less time on Twitter and will eventually find someone else to run it.
Musk sends an email to Twitter employees with a form titled “Would you like to stay on Twitter?” asking for the commitment to work long and intense hours with the “Yes” as the only option. A response is required by the end of the next day, November 17, or they can walk away with three months’ severance.
November 17: #RIPTwitter goes live
As the deadline loomed, hundreds of people who didn’t respond to Musk’s ultimatum began posting their goodbyes on Slack, Blind and Twitter, many with a blue heart and greeting emoji.
November 18: ‘Hardcore’ Life Begins
Musk summons the remaining engineers to a meeting at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco to explain Twitter’s tech stack to them. They are asked to email their accomplishments over the last six months and submit screenshots of their most notable lines of software code.
Nov 24: Twitter loses its Brussels office as outings continue
Twitter loses its last remaining employees at its Brussels regulatory center as it faces increasing scrutiny from lawmakers. the office was a key hub for Twitter become involved with a spate of European regulations, many of which only recently came into force.
November 28: Musk accuses Apple of threats in the App Store
Musk claims that the iPhone maker had stopped on Twitter and threatened to remove the social network from its App Store.
On December 4, Musk says Apple has “fully resumed” , de-escalating a brewing war with the tech giant after a meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Musk said the two had a “good conversation” and “resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter’s possible removal from the App Store.” Musk said Cook was “clear that Apple never considered doing it.”
Dec 2: Musk mocks ‘Twitter Files’
Musk mocks the release of executive emails showing internal debate on the social network over a controversial 2020 decision to restrict access to an article about a laptop allegedly owned by Hunter Biden.
The so-called Twitter files include screenshots of user accounts as part of a collection of internal documents, which Musk delivered to reporters.
December 13: Twitter dissolves the Content Moderation Council
Twitter dissolves its Trust and Safety Council, a group of independent experts who provided guidance on content moderation issues, days after several members resigned over concerns about the company’s ability to police the platform. looking for harmful content.
Dec 14 – Musk loses ‘world’s richest person’ title
Musk reveals that he sold another batch of Tesla stock, totaling $3.58 billion, bringing the amount he has freed up since the end of last year to nearly $40 billion. The sale of about 22 million shares coincided with Musk’s slide from the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, replaced by Bernard Arnault.
Tesla’s market value also fell below the half trillion dollar mark for the first time since November 2020.
December 16: Twitter suspends journalists’ accounts
Twitter is suspending the accounts of journalists accused by Musk of posting their real-time location, something he described as “basically giving out murder coordinates.”
The company clarified that some of the accounts would be restored. Accounts that track private planes, including Musk’s, are also banned from the platform.
The moves sparked a backlash from European politicians, with threats of future sanctions and lawmakers leaving the platform. “There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said in a tweet.
December 17: The hunt for new investors
Musk is seeking new investors for Twitter at the same price he paid when he took the company private. The managing director of the billionaire’s family office, Jared Birchall, has approached potential backers, the Semafor news site reported.
December 18: Twitter bans the promotion of other social networks
Twitter begins removing accounts that promote other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon
“We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter,” the company explained in its own account.
Dec 19 – Twitter users vote for Musk to step down as CEO
“Should I resign as head of Twitter?” Musk asks in a poll, promising to respect his result. About 58 percent of the 17.5 million voters favor him stepping down after 53 days in charge, which could leave the company without senior leadership.
Musk was in Qatar to watch the World Cup final match between Argentina and France and tweeted his poll after the game’s conclusion.