Elon Musk Hosts His First Live Q&A With Twitter Staff
It wasn’t a super‑slick corporate press conference – Musk joined the call a full ten minutes late, wearing a simple white shirt and apparently sitting in a kitchen. The weather? Not a big deal. What mattered was what he said.
“Let’s Talk About Ads, Aliens, and the Future”
- Ads are still on the table. Despite previous musings that Twitter should ditch advertising, Musk echoed that “advertising is very important for Twitter.” He teased that future ads might be “entertaining” and not creepy.
- Star‑struck side‑conversations. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX threw in a side chat about aliens and space civilizations, hinting that Twitter could help humanity reach “civilisation and consciousness.”
- Growth goal. Musk wants to boost users from 229 M to at least 1 B. That’s a massive leap, but no concrete plan was shared.
What About the Rowdy Questions?
Staff weren’t shy. On Slack, memes went off like wildfire, and many jabbed that Musk didn’t give a clear business roadmap or compensation details. One major hot‑button:
- Layoffs are a reality. Musk admitted the need for “some rationalisation of headcount and expenses.” He noted “costs exceed revenue” right now, but promised that “anyone who’s a significant contributor…should have nothing to worry about.”
- Remote work policy. The company currently gives employees a hybrid swipe. Musk leaned towards more in‑office culture but said “remote work can be okay” for exceptional folks.
- Content moderation. He hinted that users could say “pretty outrageous things”—but only if it’s not illegal. Employees and the public alike are already wary of how this could loosen current rules.
Why the Conversation Matters
Elon Musk’s takeover offer sits at a whopping US$44 billion (S$61 billion), but the deal is still pending. The employees are anxious about the pandemic of bots and spam – Musk’s biggest gripe – and fear the big tech mogul’s plans might reshape the platform drastically.
Bottom line? He showed up, made a few bold statements, and left the room buzzing. He didn’t go into details on the closing of the sale or a concrete roadmap, but the frayed mix of humor, ambition, and curiosity certainly gives people something to chat about—both inside and outside the office.
