‘Nothing Has Worked’: Musk Laments

On the same day Twitter started laying off thousands of workers, Elon Musk doubled down at an annual investment conference in Manhattan on the challenges he faces in trying to bolster profits for the ailing social media firm he purchased for $44 billion, including a potential advertiser exodus over the proliferation of hate speech on the platform.

KEY FACTS

• Speaking at the Baron Investment Conference, Musk acknowledged he tried to back out of the $44 billion deal, calling Twitter a “poorly managed business” he bought “on the basis of what it could become.”
• He also sought to justify the layoffs that hit roughly half the company’s staff on Friday, saying Twitter “was having pretty serious revenue and cost challenges” before the acquisition started.
• Regarding the loss of advertisers—including General Mills and Volvo—since he took over, Musk claimed the company has done its “absolute best to appease them,” before lamenting: “Nothing has worked.”
• Earlier on Friday, Musk blamed “activist groups” for the pushback he’s received from advertisers, after a group of more than 40 organizations on Tuesday sent a letter urging Twitter’s top 20 advertisers to “cease all advertising” on the platform if Musk rolls back on moderation practices—saying the groups prompted a “massive drop in revenue.”

$210.3 billion. That’s how much Musk,  the world’s richest person, is worth on Friday, according to Forbes estimates.

The Musk's swift actions last week stand in contrast to those of many new leaders, who often use the first 90 days to meet with employees, listen to concerns and assess how to improve a company’s products before embarking on strategy shifts, executives and corporate advisers say.