He also warned employees that the company might not survive the economic downturn without significant subscription revenue. Musk wants to change the company’s operations so that it generates at least half of its revenue from subscriptions and can rely less on advertising. But he said, in the staff email, that he still expects Twitter to generate significant revenue from advertisers. Bloomberg previously reported on the policy changes. Those changes come amid additional resignations from C-level executives at Twitter, including Chief Information and Security Officer Lea Kissner, current employees told CNBC. On Twitter, Kisner wrote: “I’ve made the difficult decision to leave Twitter. I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing people and I’m so proud of the privacy, security and IT teams and the work we’ve done. I’m looking forward to what’s next.” Kisner he also noted, “I loved this job and we did so much, but here we are.” Musk’s return-to-office policy for Twitter mirrors one he implemented at his electric vehicle maker, Tesla, earlier this year. On May 31, he told Tesla employees that they must return to the office at least 40 hours a week or quit. Some Tesla employees who were unable to return to the office immediately said they could continue working for several more weeks, but said they were fired when they did not immediately agree to return. Twitter’s workplace culture stood in stark contrast to that of Musk’s electric car and sustainable energy company. Twitter co-founder and then-CEO Jack Dorsey, who pushed Musk to take over the company, told their employees in May 2020 that they could work from home “forever,” becoming one of the first companies to established such a permanent remote work policy during the Covid pandemic. Many advertisers have halted spending on Twitter until Musk and his team can prove that under their leadership, the social network can effectively curb hate speech, online harassment, fake accounts and fraud. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Here’s the full email from Musk to Twitter staff, transcribed by CNBC. By: Elon Musk [email removed] Date: November 9, 2022 [time stamp removed] To: Team Sorry this is my first company wide email but there is no way to cover the message. Frankly, the future financial picture is dire especially for a company like ours that is so dependent on advertising in a difficult economic climate. In addition, 70% of our advertising is brand and not performance specific, which makes us doubly vulnerable! That’s why the priority over the past ten days has been developing and rolling out Blue Verified Twitter accounts (huge props to the team!). Without significant subscription revenue, there’s a good chance Twitter won’t survive the coming economic downturn. We need about half of our revenue to be subscription. Of course, we’ll still be heavily reliant on advertising, so I’m spending time with our sales and partnerships teams to ensure Twitter continues to be attractive to advertisers.
This is the Spaces discussion that Robin, Yoel and I hosted today: [Link to Elon Q&A: Advertising & the Future removed] The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed. We’re also changing Twitter’s policy so that remote work is no longer allowed unless you have a specific exemption. Administrators will send me the exception lists for review and approval. Starting tomorrow (Thursday), everyone is required to be in the office for at least 40 hours a week. Obviously, if you are physically unable to travel to an office or have a critical personal obligation, then your absence is understandable. I look forward to working with you to take Twitter to a whole new level. The possibilities are truly incredible! Thanks, Elon WATCH: Twitter is now Elon Musk’s company — See how experts responded to the news