ELON Musk is upending the Twitter business model by cutting executive salaries and exploring new payment options.
The Tesla boss divulged some of his ideas in a pitch to financiers who are backing Musk with over $25billion in loans.
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Musk was vocal about his desire to slash executive pay before information about closed doors meetings with banks hit the press.
He’s been candid about his lack of confidence in Twitter’s leadership in press statements and official transaction documents.
Musk reportedly has a vision for Twitter that, in his opinion, has been grossly unrealized – he’s posted polls in the past that highlight the company’s shortcomings.
Reuters wrote that Musk is frustrated by the discord between Twitter’s gross margin and the money-making abilities of the site’s peers like Facebook and Pinterest.
Musk has ideas to ramp up Twitter’s profitability.
Sources close to the matter said he’s weighing charging fees for embedded tweets from verified organizations – similar to transaction charges that were instituted at another Musk endeavor, the payment service PayPal.
The Reuters article referenced sources who said Musk’s plan was “thin on detail.”
The Washington Post added that Musk is musing hiring influencers to make content for the platform – a strategy that may not gel with Twitter’s informal tendencies.
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Though the plan for making money may exist as a concept in Musk’s complicated head, there is little left to the imagination on his plan to cut executive salaries.
“Board salary will be $0 if my bid succeeds, so that’s ~$3M/year saved right there,” Musk wrote on Twitter on April 18.
But his plan to cut board salaries may be in jest as Twitter Board Chair Bret Taylor said the current Board of Directors will dissolve if Musk acquires the company, according to Teslarati.
Job cuts are also in the cards according to reports, going against current CEO Parag Agrawal’s suggestion that plans for layoffs are not in place.
Musk’s deal to buy Twitter is not finalized – but if it were to fail then the party who backs out would owe the other $1billion in termination fees.
Part of Musk’s loan is leveraged against his Tesla stock, which has been dropping in value – if Tesla’s price point drops far enough it could spell disaster for the buyout.
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