Twitter CEO Elon Musk has recently revealed that he saved the social media platform from bankruptcy while overseeing his two other companies, noting that the firm is currently on track to break even.
The billionaire owner took to Twitter where he wrote, “Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties. Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone.
“Twitter still has challenges but is now trending to break even if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!”
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Last 3 months were extremely tough, as had to save Twitter from bankruptcy, while fulfilling essential Tesla & SpaceX duties. Wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone.
Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending to breakeven if we keep at it. Public support is much appreciated!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2023
Recall that when Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion in April, while speaking at the TED2022 conference, he disclosed that he didn’t care about the economics of the purchase, rather he was more concerned about having a platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive which he believes is extremely important to the future of civilization.
Several months later, Musk seems to have changed his tune, haphazardly suggesting ideas to his advisors, and even his Twitter followers, in an attempt to make the platform profitable.
Since acquiring the company for $44 billion in October last year, which saw him sell about $4 billion worth of shares in Tesla to help pay for a transaction in which he took on billions of dollars in debt, Musk has been carrying out a series of revamp on the platform to ensure it generates more revenue.
Reports reveal Twitter generated less money than what it owes its lenders annually, as the company was also unprofitable for eight of the last 10 years before Musk’s takeover.
Since acquiring the platform, Musk has openly and frequently talked about the possibility of bankruptcy for Twitter. Still, the platform made its first interest payment on the $12.5 billion in debt that the new owner used to take it private last year, bolstering confidence in his ability to avert bankruptcy in the near term.
This spurred the Tesla billionaire to come up with ways to generate revenue for the company, by introducing different paid features on the platform.
In November last year, Musk introduced an $8 per month payment for the Twitter blue badge, while noting that the price will be adjusted according to purchasing power parity of a country in an attempt to expand Twitter’s paid subscription.
Musk is also trying to minimize Twitter’s infrastructure costs. In meetings with engineers, his advisers have proposed saving from $1 million to $3 million in infrastructure costs a day.
Musk and his advisers have dispatched product teams to brainstorm any and all ideas that could quickly bring in money.
One product team is working on paid direct messaging, which appears to be focused on Very Important Tweeters, or V.I.T.s, on the network, said the two people with knowledge of the work and according to the internal documents.
According to the product mock-ups seen by The Times, users would be able to send private messages to their favorite celebrities for a nominal fee. A fee structure, which had not been set in stone, could be as little as a few dollars per direct message.