Elon Musk is “out of his depth” on Twitter and the “bullying culture” doesn’t work there, says a former Facebook executive.
An early investor in SpaceX, Chris Kelly “loves Elon a lot,” but said the strategies that have worked for Musk’s other companies don’t translate to Twitter. Kelly made the comments at Big Ideas Live, a Sky News event that took place on Saturday in London.
“He’s capable of doing amazing things, but he’s gotten into an area that’s out of his depth and he thinks that the culture of bullying can change — and that’s not going to work for a company like Twitter,” Kelly said. “I’ve seen some driving from Elon to Tesla and SpaceX in the past, but I’m surprised that this was the way. He must have done something very serious when he took over.”
Sharing Kelly’s views was Dex Hunter-Torricke, the former head of communications for SpaceX who now advises Facebook on moderation as part of the Meta management team.
“Making hasty and knee-jerk political decisions is probably not the right way to go,” Hunter-Torricke told Sky News.
Musk wasted no time in making major changes to Twitter after taking $44 billion from the social network. He quickly fired the top executives and then about half the company. Some of those who were removed rudely asked to come back, realizing that they were still needed.
On Wednesday, Musk sent an email to all Twitter employees and told them to be “very strong” and work “longer, harder hours.” Then he said the workers could accept this or leave. Aspirants were told to express their interest via the link in the email by Thursday evening. By Friday it appeared that between 1,000 and 2,000 workers had not yet said “yes.”
So far the changes Musk has made to the platform have confused companies, lawmakers, and celebrities, among others.
Many companies have suspended advertising on Twitter, fearing that scandals could escalate under Musk, a self-proclaimed “no-nonsense absolutist.”
Other businesses, including drugmaker Eli Lilly and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, were hurt by Musk’s Twitter verification fiasco, in which hackers were able to pose as companies. This was due to a new $8 per month subscription service that allows each account to appear “verified.” Twitter paused the service after the launch, and it’s not expected to resume until later this month.
“Elon is willing to try a lot of things—some will fail, some will succeed,” said Esther Crawford, a Twitter employee who worked on the reconfirmation. “The goal is to find the right mix of successful changes to ensure the business’s long-term health and growth.”
But Kelly thinks that Musk’s attitude will hurt the company in the long run, saying at the event today, “The big reductions and chainsaws that Elon Musk brought to the company do not bode well for its future.”
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