We first thought it was a joke, then we thought he would drop the case, before getting used to the idea: yes, Elon Musk is the CEO of Twitter. And it has been for a year, to the day. But since its takeover by the billionaire on April 25, 2022, the social network has little to do with what it was. Because the past 52 weeks have been nothing but a long succession of controversies, polemics, transformations, legal battles and – let’s say it honestly – chaos.
AT 20 minutes, when we are wrong, we say so. If we had predicted the death of Twitter in 2023, a year after the arrival of the billionaire at its head, the social network does not yet have both feet in the coffin. So on the occasion of this marriage, for better and for worse (but essentially for worse), we come back to the most significant moments of Elon Musk’s first year at the head of Twitter.
April – October 2022: an eventful arrival
It is around 8:50 p.m. on April 25, 2022, when Elon Musk causes an earthquake in the world of new technologies. In a press release, he announces that he bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars. However, it was far from won in the weeks that preceded: after having acquired millions of Twitter shares, joined the board of directors of the social network, then resigned, the whimsical billionaire had finally made a proposal far beyond above the market – the social network was valued at 38 million euros at that time.
But the honeymoon is short-lived. In May, he threatened to back down, denouncing “false and misleading” information about the company in the agreement he signed with it. Far from agreeing – and believing that the billionaire has devalued the value of the company – Twitter is taking legal action to force Elon Musk to go through with the takeover process.
The following weeks are nothing but a succession of skirmishes between Twitter and its new/former CEO (we don’t really know anymore). The turnaround comes in early October 2022. Against all expectations, while the two parties are still on trial and Elon Musk fires live ammunition on the social network almost daily, the billionaire finally agrees to buy the firm from the bird blue. On October 27, 2022, after long weeks of legal battles, it was finally official: Elon Musk – already owner of Tesla and Space X – was the new boss of Twitter. “The bird is free,” he tweeted.
November – December 2022: Musk brings rain and shine
Arbitrary decisions come faster than expected. The day after taking office, Elon Musk began by dismissing the then boss, Parag Agrawal, the financial director, Ned Segal, the head of legal affairs, Vijaya Gadde and at the same time thanked the nine members of the board. administration. He is therefore the only captain aboard the ship Twitter. He continues his cleaning, but this time on the side of the employees of the platform: half of the 7,500 employees in the world are dismissed to reduce costs. And the conditions are harsh: some find out by email, others discover that access to their computer is blocked, while the latter find that their entry badge is deactivated.
In two months, Elon Musk sows chaos on the platform: he insults Internet users on the social network, publicly dismisses an employee who contradicts him, reactivates all suspended users, including that of Donald Trump and arbitrarily closes others. , like the one following his private jet or those of journalists who dare to criticize him.
Elon Musk’s controversial initiatives don’t stop there. To pay off the debts of the company, the billionaire launches Twitter Blue, a new subscription at eight dollars per month allowing to certify his account, whatever his notoriety. On the platform, it’s confusion. Thousands of fake accounts are created. Among these impersonations are personalities like Georges W. Bush, Joe Biden, LeBron James or even Elon Musk himself. The new CEO is backtracking and giving up – temporarily – on this formula. “Please note that Twitter is going to do a lot of silly things in the coming months. We’ll keep what works and change what doesn’t,” he tweeted.
January – March 2023: Advertisers take fright
But at the beginning of 2023, it is already too late. Elon Musk is losing the trust of advertisers. Worried about the reduction in moderation – the dedicated team has almost disappeared -, the lack of strategy and the whimsical decisions of the CEO, they fled the platform, refusing that their image be associated with that of Twitter. Some are pausing their advertising campaigns, others are advising their customers to no longer invest in the social network. A Twitter disaster that derives 90% of its revenue from advertising.
In March, the ax (and the numbers) fell: advertising revenues had fallen by 40% since the purchase of the platform by Elon Musk. Worse still, over 70% of the top 100 advertisers have stopped including Twitter in their strategy. The situation of the social network, which has never been very profitable, is catastrophic. So much so that Elon Musk himself admits that the firm with the blue bird is only worth 20 million dollars, less than half the price at which he bought it.
March – April 2023: Cacophony of Badges
And the least we can say is that the situation has not really improved in recent weeks. Back in early February. Twitter launches different badges to classify its users: the blue checkmark of “certified” account for Twitter Blue subscribers, the gray checkmark for government bodies, the yellow checkmark for “official companies”. But on the media side, these are three distinct labels: “state-affiliated,” “government-funded,” or “publicly funded” media.
Some public media complain that they have been given the label “state-affiliated media”, believing that the title leads to confusion between state media, such as Sputnik or Russia Today for example, and public services information, like Radio France. Result, many of them decide to leave Twitter. This is the case for the public media group CBC/Radio-Canada, the Swedish public radio station Sveriges Radio (SR) and the American radio station NPR (National Public Radio). Once again, Elon Musk backtracks and removes the titles. In an interview with the BBC, the billionaire recognizes “many mistakes” and a “roller coaster” management.
But these errors do not prevent him from implementing one of his first ideas: the disappearance of badges for certified accounts. On April 20, the old blue badges of certified accounts – that is to say whose identity had been verified – disappear. The famous tick is now reserved for users who have subscribed to Twitter Blue. The key for these Internet users is increased visibility, fewer advertisements and technical privileges. As expected, the cacophony resumes. The certification system becomes incomprehensible, with the platform awarding blue badges to certain users, without their consent. Elon Musk even admits having paid the subscription to personalities, such as writer Stephen King, basketball player LeBron James, actor William Shatner or even former President Donald Trump.
We warned you: for better and for worse, but mostly for worse. See you on April 25, 2024 for the assessment of Elon Musk’s two years at the head of Twitter, if he is still there.