Yahoo Finance Elon Musk’s Tumultuous Twitter Takeover: Timeline
(Bloomberg) -- It’s been a rough start for Twitter Inc. under Elon Musk.
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Since the tech billionaire took ownership of Twitter three weeks ago, he’s axed half of the company’s more than 7,000 employees, fired most of its executive leadership and demanded that those who remain return to the office immediately — ending remote work, monthly “days of rest” and free food. He’s also told staffers that bankruptcy was possible if the company doesn’t stop bleeding cash soon.
With $1.2 billion in annual interest payments from the acquisition coming due, and possibly more with rising interest rates, Musk is in a rush to shore up cash. But with brands pulling back on spending, he’s also in a race to find new sources of revenue. As teams work around the clock on a paid verification product, impersonator accounts are proliferating and an exodus of advertisers is causing the company to lose $4 million a day, according to Musk.
Musk testified in a lawsuit over his pay at Tesla that he doesn’t want to be Twitter’s chief executive officer and expects to finish the reorganization of the company soon. He set a date of Nov. 29 to relaunch “Blue Verified” and told employees to commit to “hardcore” hours to get the job done, or leave with three months of severance. As hundreds head for the door, the company is now nearly one-tenth of its former size, by Bloomberg estimates. With this much smaller team, Musk called a meeting of remaining engineers to start building Twitter 2.0.
Here’s how the saga is unfolding:
Oct. 27: Musk takes control
After being forced to complete the deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Musk announces he has taken possession of the social network. His first act is to fire the board along with CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal, head of legal and policy Vijaya Gadde and General Counsel Sean Edgett, among others in executive leadership.
He changes his Twitter bio to call himself “Chief Twit” and forms a small advisory team that includes celebrity attorney Alex Spiro, venture capitalist and engineer David Sacks, Neuralink Corp. CEO and head of Musk’s family office Jared Birchall, tech investor Jason Calacanis, and general partner of Andreessen Horowitz Sriram Krishnan.
Oct. 28: Brands begin to take pause
As Musk plans to unban accounts and says he will charge for user verification, advertisers start to get nervous. General Motors Co. suspends ads, and others review their Twitter budgets.
Oct. 31: Top tweeters protest
Amid murmurings of plans to charge existing verified accounts, bestselling author Stephen King tweets, “$20 a month to keep my blue check? F--- that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.” Musk replies, “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” Musk double downs on promoting the product. A possible release date of Nov. 7 is debated.
Nov. 1: Teams working around the clock
The product team works over the weekend on Musk’s idea to charge users for blue check marks. A photo of product director Esther Crawford sleeping on the floor of a conference room, trying to make the deadline, goes viral. Meanwhile, managers are asked to make lists of who can be fired. Employees print out their software code for review by Musk and engineers from Tesla Inc., to determine if their contributions are worthy of keeping a job.
Nov. 3: Massive layoffs begin
A memo is sent to all employees telling them of imminent layoffs and to watch for an email with the subject line: “Your Role at Twitter.” Badge access to offices is suspended as about 3,700 staffers receive word that they’ve been cut. Sources report chaos in the aftermath with “survivors” not knowing who their boss will be or which projects to work on, and project leader aren’t sure who is left on their teams. Realizing employees essential for the continuity of the business have been let go by mistake, some are asked to come back.
Co-founder Ev Williams tweets, “Heart’s out to the tweeps getting laid off today.” Days later, co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who was a proponent of Musk’s acquisition, adds, “I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that.”
A class action lawsuit is filed questioning whether California employees were given enough notice under state law.
Meanwhile, more advertisers tap the brakes, concerned that cuts to content moderation teams mean their ads could show up alongside unsavory content.
Nov. 5-6: Musk responds to celebrity protests
Unrest grows on the platform over the weekend, particularly over the issue of impersonator accounts. Actress Valerie Bertinelli starts a movement of people changing their Twitter names to “Elon Musk.” Comedian Kathy Griffin joins the protest, finds her account locked, and then Musk announces, “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.”
Nov. 7: Musk urges followers to vote Republican before Election Day
Musk breaks out of the normal neutral posture of social media leaders when he tweets to his more than 100 million followers, “To independent-minded voters: Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic.” He then pins the tweet to the top of his profile.
Nov. 8: Musk sells more Tesla
Despite a previous vow not to sell any more Tesla stock, Musk unloads an additional $3.95 billion, bringing the total sold in past year to $36 billion.
Nov. 9: Musk answers advertisers’ questions
In an attempt to stem the departure of brands from the platform, Musk hosts a Twitter Spaces Q&A with the head of sales Robin Wheeler, head of trust and safety Yoel Roth, and the CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, David Cohen. More than 114,000 listeners tune in, including a number of official brand accounts such as Target, Pandora, Chipotle and Chevron. Musk brainstorms about how his subscription product can grow by building more commerce into the platform, including by offering high yield money market accounts on Twitter that users can link with their bank accounts.Soon after, the company’s blue check mark option becomes available for purchase, and immediately becomes a tool for impersonators. An account masquerading as Nintendo posts an image of Super Mario holding up a middle finger, while a fake Eli Lilly & Co. account tweets that insulin is now free. An impersonator Tesla account jokes about the carmaker’s safety record. Politicians and celebrities are also spoofed.
Nov. 10: More key executives quit as Musk warns of bankruptcy
In his first meeting with employees, Musk tells them to brace for 80-hour weeks and requires everyone back in the office full time, ending remote work and other perks like free food. He also says bankruptcy for the company is not out of the question if it doesn’t start generating more cash, and that teams need to move with urgency on the $8 subscription product.
Several executives in charge of keeping Twitter safe and accountable to its users quit, including Chief Information Security Officer Lea Kissner, Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Chief Compliance Officer Marianne Fogarty. Their departures raise concerns about the company’s ability to keep its platform secure and comply with regulations. Later in the day there is news that both Roth and Wheeler have resigned, although soon after Wheeler returns.
Nov. 11: Verified accounts get “official” tags
Twitter adds badges that say “official” to verified accounts in some places, though confusion abounds.
More brands depart the platform, including theater guide Playbill. “Because of its tolerance for hate, negativity, and misinformation, our time with the social media platform has come to an end,” the company says in a statement. It warns fans to ignore any tweets from a Twitter account that contains the Playbill name. “Please understand that it is not us,” it says.
Nov. 14-15: Twitter quitter ranks grow
With the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade fast approaching, the department store retailer tells Ad Age it’s taking a pause on the platform — the brand spent more than a $1 million on Twitter ads in the first half of November, according to Ad Age’s report. Fast food chain Chipotle, which hadn’t tweeted since Halloween, has suspended ads. And luxury fashion brand, Balenciaga, has deleted its account altogether, without so much as saying goodbye.
A feeling is growing across the site that perhaps the platform’s days are numbered, as more people post links to accounts on new rival Mastodon and celebrities like Monica Lewinsky reminisce about good times.
Meanwhile, Musk is busy purging engineers criticizing him and freezing the ability to write new code. He tells the B20 business conference that he has “too much on his plate” and is working the maximum he can “from morning to night seven days a week.” He says he’s been sleeping at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, and intends to continue until the company is fixed: “The amount that I torture myself is next-level, frankly,” he says.
Nov. 16: Musk doesn’t want to be CEO
At a trial in Delaware Chancery Court over his $55 billion pay at Tesla, Musk says he doesn’t want to be CEO of the electric car maker, let alone Twitter or any company. He says that he expects the restructuring of the social network to be completed by the end of next week, that he plans on spending less time at Twitter and will ultimately find someone else to run it. Possibly he means it —Tesla board member James Murdoch testifies that Musk said he’s found a potential successor for Tesla.
Musk emails Twitter employees a form titled, “Would you like to stay at Twitter?” asking for a pledge to work long, intense hours with “Yes” as the only option. A response is required by the end of the next day — Nov. 17 — or they can leave with three months severance.
He then tweets that “Blue Verified” will relaunch Nov. 29.
Nov. 17: #RIPTwitter is trending
As the employment deadline approaches, hundreds that don’t click yes on Musk’s ultimatum start to post their goodbyes across Slack, Blind and Twitter, many with a salute emoji and blue heart. Matt Miller, an engineer who has been with Twitter for nearly 10 years, counts down with peers in a video that goes viral and is seen more than 1.6 million times. “Let’s try the badges,” he asks at the clock strikes 5 pm, not knowing exactly how they’ll be fired for their defiance. An email alerts employees that offices have been closed until Monday, Nov. 21. Many start to speculate whether the company has enough workers to operate.
There’s a sense of a death watch as many wait for Twitter to go dark.
Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman tweets, “OK, if Twitter dies soon — suddenly looking like a real possibility — I do have a Mastodon account here https://mastodon.online/@pkrugman.” US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweets, “Shout out to all the workers at Twitter. You all built a vital place for connection and deserved so much better. Millions of people appreciate the space you built and the hard work that went into it. Thank you.”
In response to the mass exodus, Musk tweets a string of jokes. “How do you make a small fortune in social media? Start out with a large one.” He also posts an image of Twitter’s tombstone. He spends the day trying to keep key engineers and rehires Ella Irwin to head up Trust & Safety. Bloomberg estimates 12% to 13% of the workforce remains, although no official count has been released.
Nov. 18: “Hardcore” life begins
Musk summons remaining engineers to a meeting at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco to explain the Twitter tech stack to him. They are asked to email their achievements over the past six months and send screenshots of their most salient lines of software code.
There are now nearly 1,000 names on the Tweeps Talent Directory started after layoffs began.
Tesla competitor Jaguar Land Rover swoops in, announcing it’s interested in Twitter’s departing employees and seeking to hire 800 workers across the UK, US, Ireland, India, China and Hungary to fill digital and engineering vacancies in the areas of autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, electrification, cloud software, data science and machine learning.
--With assistance from Kurt Wagner.
(A previous version corrected the acquisition amount in the Oct. 27 section.)
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