I’m flipping tired of talking about Twitter. It used to be a social stream, but now it’s just a stream of stupid blunders. The missteps are also, so uncreative that analyzing them has no real business value.
But here’s the gossip I’ve seen today about Twitter.
In today’s episode of Twitter is a legitimate company that isn’t currently being run by a manchild™ King Twit made a big boy decision and hired a lawyer to represent him. That much is to be expected — making 4D chess moves like firing employees with multi-million severance contracts brings with it legal hurdles best navigated by a JD or several. Whoever was in the position of hiring started off on the good foot; the hire is from Skadden, a well known and reputable Biglaw firm. The rest? Well…
NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as ‘state-affiliated media’
NPR will no longer post fresh content to its 52 official Twitter feeds, becoming the first major news organization to go silent on the social media platform. In explaining its decision, NPR cited Twitter’s decision to first label the network “state-affiliated media,” the same term it uses for propaganda outlets in Russia, China and other autocratic countries.
Musk Says Twitter Could Become Cash-Flow Positive This Quarter
Elon Musk declared that most of the advertisers who abandoned Twitter after his $44 billion acquisition have returned, and said the company could become cash-flow positive as soon as this quarter.
My notes on this one, NO. Just no. Twitter’s nothing close to the advertiser spend they once had. Musk may be counting some of the offers to match advertiser’s spend as revenue. But spend a million on ads get another million in free ad credits is not $2 million in revenue.
Elon Musk secretly working on AI despite calling for six-month development pause
Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk recently co-signed an open letter along with hundreds of others calling for a six-month pause on the development of artificial intelligence technology. But while doing so, he has secretly been investing “tens of millions” of dollars into Twitter’s own AI projects.
Ex-Twitter CEO who was fired by Musk sues company over unpaid legal expenses
Former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and two other ex-executives sued the company today, saying they haven’t been reimbursed for over $1 million in expenses related to federal investigations and other legal matters. The lawsuit said former executives had to respond to investigations launched by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice, and requested “an expedited ruling requiring Defendant to comply with its obligations to advance legal fees and expenses relating to ongoing litigation and investigations.”