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☆ Analysis: Elon Musk puts his conspiratorial thinking on display for the world to see in Don Lemon interview
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Elon Musk is showing the world how radicalized he has become. To those not fluent in the intricacies of right-wing media, some of what Musk said may have sounded bizarre or even foreign. But in the right-wing fever swamps, where Musk is now deeply entrenched, these are the issues that animate the masses. Once upon a time, Musk welcomed having a media personality like Lemon on the X platform. Unfortunately for the rest of the world, Musk is hell bent on taking everyone else down there with him.

Persons: CNN — Elon Musk, Don Lemon, Musk, ”, Joe, Donald Trump’s, Zoë Schiffer, Casey Newton, Lemon, “, ” Lemon, Jason Sheeler Organizations: CNN, Biden, Pravda, SpaceX Locations: America, “ America

☆ Why can’t we stop calling X, Twitter?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Saira Mueller | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

While some people (mainly fans of Musk) have embraced the X brand, most have not. Many people, both online and in person, still call the platform Twitter, and refer to posts as tweets. WHY ARE WE STILL CALLING THIS PLATFORM TWITTER. Even when you do see X, it's framed as "X, formerly Twitter". So the brand is what they say it is… it’s not that customers can’t stop calling it Twitter, it’s that they won’t.”

Persons: it’s, adieu, Elon Musk, — Jack Scalfani, ”, — Sherrye Pomeroy, Linda Yaccarino, It’s, ” Ramon Jimenez, Wolff Olins, “, ” Marty Neumeier, —, Musk, ’, Zoë Schiffer, Schiffer, Josh Adelson, X, x.com, ” Musk, wasn’t, Neumeier, “ It’s, ’ ” Elon Musk, Alain Jocard, James Withey, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Withey, — Sandy Horne Organizations: CNN, Twitter, Premium, Twitter Twitter, Global, Merriam, Webster, Oxford English, Liquid Agency, Elon, Musk, Twitter Inc, X Corp, Getty, The New York Times, Apple, Adobe, Google, Strategy, Innovation, Nissan, Datsun Locations: @sherrye_pomeroy, San Francisco, Paris, AFP, Frankfurt, Germany, @SandyHorne61

☆ Elon Musk attacked my article accusing him of gaming Twitter's algorithm for more attention. In some ways, it gave him exactly what he wanted.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Zoe Schiffer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Advertisement"Yes, Elon Musk created a special system for showing you all his tweets first," the Platformer headline read. "After his super bowl tweet did worse numbers than President Biden's, Twitter's CEO ordered major changes to the algorithm." In December 2022, a former Twitter employee had been sentenced to three years in prison for spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia. AdvertisementBy the end of the week, did anyone even remember there had been a Super Bowl? From EXTREMELY HARDCORE: Inside Elon Musk's Twitter, by Zoe Schiffer, published by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.

Persons: —, Elon Musk, Rupert Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch, Musk, Biden, I'm, Jill Biden's, Jill Biden, Joe Biden, I'd, Elon, Zoe, Yang, Casey Newton, Biden's, Newton, who'd, Barack Obama, Twitter, Zoe Schiffer Organizations: Service, Farm, Super, News Corp, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, Business, Eagles, Twitter, Elon Musk, Google, Washington Post, Engineers, UPS, Elon, Penguin Publishing, Penguin Random Locations: Glendale , Arizona, Arizona, Oakland, Santa Barbara, Saudi Arabia

☆ A former Twitter engineer says Elon Musk wrongly fired him for leaking information to the press
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewA former engineer at Twitter, now X, says that he was wrongfully fired from his job after being accused of leaking information to the press. Speaking to Zoë Schiffer in her newly released book, "Extremely Hardcore," Lin said that someone lied about him leaking information to the press. So when Elon Musk took over Twitter in October 2022, the engineer was on board. AdvertisementWorkers install lighting on an "X" sign atop the downtown San Francisco building that housed what was formally known as Twitter, rebranded X by owner Elon Musk. Lin still insists that he had no involvement in leaking information, Schiffer writes in the book.

Persons: —, Randall Lin, Zoë Schiffer, Lin, Schiffer, Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, Noah Berger, I've, Zoë, James Musk, Elon Musk's, Elon Organizations: Service, Twitter, Elon, Business, Twitter's San, Workers Locations: Twitter's, Twitter's San Francisco, San Francisco

☆ Twitter gave Elon Musk the @e handle after becoming its biggest shareholder, book says — but he doesn't seem to use it
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk was given the @e handle shortly after becoming Twitter's biggest shareholder, a new book says. Musk doesn't appear to have engaged with the account beyond changing the name to John Utah. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementTwitter's trust and safety head was asked to transfer ownership of the @e handle to Elon Musk in April 2022, according to a new book by Zoë Schiffer. Schiffer, managing editor of the tech newsletter Platformer, previously said in an X post that Musk had acquired the @e handle .

Persons: Elon Musk, Zoë, Yoel Roth, John Utah, —, Zoë Schiffer, Twitter's, Leslie Berland, Musk, Schiffer, Roth Organizations: Service, Elon, Twitter, Business

☆ Elon Musk offered to help Twitter engineers reinstate Donald Trump's account after they struggled with glitches, book says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Twitter engineers faced technical challenges when reinstating Donald Trump's Twitter account. Engineers struggled to find enough capacity to revive the account, Zoë Schiffer wrote in her new book. Schiffer wrote in her new book. The situation got so bad that Musk offered to lend a hand, Schiffer wrote in "Extremely Hardcore." AdvertisementElon Musk reinstated Donald Trump's Twitter account in late 2022 — but reviving the account was far from simple, according to a new book.

Persons: Donald Trump's, Zoë Schiffer, Schiffer, —, Elon Musk, Slack Organizations: Donald Trump's Twitter, Engineers, Service, Business

☆ ‘Can we sleep at night?’: Renowned tech journalist explains why he pulled his newsletter publication from X and Substack
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Over the past several months, Newton has made difficult decisions to sever relationships and move Platformer off both Substack and X, the platform formally known as Twitter. For Newton, maintaining a presence on both X and Substack violated both his personal and business’ moral constitution. In the case of Substack, Newton expressed disappointment that the newsletter publisher had strenuously resisted calls to prohibit “literal 1930s-style Nazis” from building — and monetizing — audiences. “I am writing all the time about how companies are failing to live up to their stated values,” Newton told CNN. “My expectation is we are going to grow a lot more slowly on the free side this year,” Newton candidly acknowledged.

Persons: CNN — Casey Newton, Newton, ” Newton, Zoë Schiffer, “, Elon Musk, I’m, ” Organizations: CNN, NPR

☆ Apple tells dozens of employees in San Diego to move to Austin or face layoffs, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-15 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple has told 121 staff in San Diego to move to Austin or face being laid off, Bloomberg reported. They've been given until the end of February to decide if they'll relocate, the report said. AdvertisementApple has reportedly told 121 employees in San Diego to relocate to Austin or face being laid off. People with knowledge of the matter said the employees told Bloomberg the majority of the 121 workers weren't willing to relocate. The company told staff in its Development and Preservation teams to reapply for their jobs or they would get laid off.

Persons: Apple, They've, they'll, —, Siri, Platformer's Zoë Schiffer, Schiffer, Hugh Langley, Tim Cook, Apple's, Tim Cook's, It's, Apple didn't Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Apple, Texas, Preservation, Meta, Google, CNBC, Microsoft, Huawei, Reuters, Business Locations: San Diego, Austin, China

☆ Substack takes a halfsies approach to banning Nazis
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-10 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. In December 2023, The Atlantic reported that it had seen a handful of Nazi-affiliated or white supremacist blogs on the platform, some of them with paying subscribers. Last week, Newton wrote in the newsletter that he was meeting with Substack to discuss the issue and was considering taking his popular newsletter to another service if Substack wouldn't budge. AdvertisementNewton and Schiffer flexing their power worked: Substack is removing five out of the 14-plus newsletters with Nazi or white supremacist content. But Substack will continue to remove any material that includes "credible threats of physical harm," it said.

Persons: —, Hamish McKenzie, Casey Newton, Zoë Schiffer, Newton, Substack, Schiffer, it's, Hitler, Bari Weiss, Richard Dawkins Organizations: Service, Nazi, Business

☆ Billionaire CEOs said working from home made them happier. Some now want to fire workers who don't show up to the office.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementThe Meta CEO told staff they could expect him to spend half of the next year working remotely. True to his word, in his first week Musk banned remote work in a 2:30 a.m email to Twitter staff. Still: Unlike some of the other wealthy CEOs on this list, Eric Yuan has always been a little skeptical of permanent remote work. Roy RochlinSalesforce CEO Marc Benioff was initially outspoken in his support for remote working. Joining the growing list of CEOs that say remote work is not conducive to productivity, Salesforce revised its work-from-anywhere strategy.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Goldman Sachs, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Zuckerberg, Meta, I've, Erin Scott, Skip, Insider's Kali Hays, Hugh Langley, Evan Spiegel, Miranda Kerr, Pierre Mouton, Stringer, Spiegel, I'm, ERIC PIERMONT, Kali Hays, Jack Dorsey, PRAKASH SINGH, lockdowns, Dorsey, Elon Musk, Musk, Zoe Schiffer, hasn't, Eric Yuan, Kena, Zoom, Kelly Steckelberg, Yuan, Marc Benioff, Roy Rochlin, Salesforce, Benioff, Justin Sullivan, Kara Swisher Organizations: Service, Meta, Harvard Business School, Wall Street, Staff, CNBC, Getty, Twitter, San, New, Elon, San Francisco, Bloomberg, Zoom, Workers, MarketWatch, Smith, Yahoo Finance, Insider Locations: Wall, Silicon, San Francisco, Singapore, Silicon Valley , California

☆ Elon Musk reportedly wants new features for Twitter as Threads rivalry heats up
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter is facing competition from Meta's new Twitter clone called Threads. Elon Musk might be starting to feel the heat of Mark Zuckerberg's new Twitter clone, Threads. According to Platformer's Zoë Schiffer, the Tesla CEO sent an email telling staff that Twitter needs to launch better features faster than ever. The Twitter clone has benefitted from its link to Instagram, which allows it to access the app's 2 billion-plus user base. Over at Twitter, Musk and new CEO Linda Yaccarino have been trying to play down reports that Twitter's traffic has taken a recent hit.

Persons: Elon Musk, Platformer's Zoë Schiffer, Elon, Mark Zuckerberg's, Musk's, Meta, Instagram, Adam Mosseri, Linda Yaccarino, Yaccarino Organizations: Twitter

☆ Tech companies are getting tougher on remote workers as their office mandates show
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Many of them either embraced or tolerated remote working but now they seem less keen. Earlier in June, Meta announced that workers must go into the office three days a week, starting September 5. Musk has criticized remote work on several occasions and recently called it "morally wrong." Martha Stewart has also weighed in on the productivity of remote workers, saying: "You can't possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely." The employer backlash against remote work follows a period of upheaval in the tech industry.

Persons: Platformer's Zoë Schiffer, Parag Agrawal, he'd, Elon, Musk, Martha Stewart Organizations: Meta, Apple, Staff, Google, Twitter, The Washington Post Locations: WaPo

☆ Elon Musk is paying for a few of his favorite celebrities to stay on Twitter Blue, even after they dissed the new blue checks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said he's personally paying for several top celebrities' Twitter Blue subscriptions. Billionaire Elon Musk says he's personally paying for several well-known figures to stay on Twitter Blue after they refused to fork up $8 for a monthly subscription. "My Twitter account says I've subscribed to Twitter Blue. James received an email from Twitter offering free verification "on behalf of Elon Musk," the outlet reported. Musk on Wednesday responded to the online discussion of celebrities receiving free verification, saying he is "paying for a few personally" to keep their Twitter Blue subscriptions.

☆ Amazon, Meta, and other tech giants are cutting middle management to be more efficient. It's a risky move that could backfire.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Big Tech's latest cost cutting move is "flattening," or removing middle management from the org chart. This is likely to work in the short term, but removing middle management has long-term consequences. The move comes as the Big Tech companies reel from the consequences of overhiring, as the pandemic turned into an unexpected boon to their businesses. While that all sounds good, experts warn removing middle management roles have other consequences that Big Tech will have to deal with. Middle managers set the tone and cultureAdditionally, middle managers have more influence on shaping a company's culture and can affect whether or not employees feel engaged in their jobs, as Insider's Aki Ito reported.

☆ Humanity has decided it can say 'no' to AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Hallam Bullock | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The latest development in AI: humanity has decided it can say "no." Elon Musk was one of more than 1,000 people to sign an open letter calling for a six-month pause on advanced AI development. The letter cited several potential risks to humanity and society, including the spread of misinformation and automation of jobs. Bosses have forgotten how to say "good job" — and it's driving employees to quit. Big Tech's big downgrade.

☆ Swipe your badge or get fired? Employers and workers face a reckoning over returning to the office.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Employers are hardening demands for workers to return to the office and quashing resistance. Apple is tracking employee attendance and has threatened action against staff who don't work from the office at least three days a week. Today, though, as a recession looms, companies are rolling back perks and demanding workers return to their desks or risk termination. After 2020's COVID-19 lockdowns forced office workers to work from home, many of them discovered the benefits of remote work. Many of the same companies demanding workers return to the office have recently conducted mass layoffs — some more than once.

☆ Twitter is secretly boosting 35 VIP users including Lebron James, AOC, catturd2, and Ben Shapiro: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

This means their tweets automatically bypass an algorithm meant to cap a Twitter user's reach. Platformer's Managing Editor Zoë Schiffer cited internal documents from Twitter which listed 35 VIP users, who all have their posts monitored and promoted for greater visibility. The list also included the pro-Trump, MAGA-friendly Twitter commentator, catturd2, with whom Elon Musk has had many Twitter conversations. Twitter engineers have ensured that tweets by these VIP users will automatically be ranked higher than others in terms of their visibility, Platformer revealed. The VIP users' tweets also bypass a Twitter algorithm which prevents too many posts from a particular user from being viewed, per Platformer.

☆ Tech CEOs increasingly admire Elon Musk's harsh leadership style, but they should actually take cues from Apple's Tim Cook
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Experts attribute Apple's stability and durability to CEO Tim Cook's steady leadership style. Experts say that Cook, not Twitter's Elon Musk, is the model that more execs should look to. The lessons CEOs can learn from Cook, the experts say, are that quiet prudence and practicality are always in fashion. By contrast, Cook's approach at Apple is often described as "pragmatic" and "risk averse," as Insider previously reported. Some workers see it as a precursor to the company firing employees who don't meet the requirement, Bloomberg reported.

☆ Elon Musk concedes Twitter is now worth less than half what he paid in email about stock grants, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk offered stock grants to staff that value the company at $20 billion, Platformer reported. Musk told the employees left after the last round of layoffs that they were "highly regarded." Musk also told staff he saw a "clear but difficult path" to a $250 billion valuation, Schiffer tweeted. Meanwhile, Musk reportedly emailed Twitter staff in the early hours of Wednesday to remind them about the company's remote working policy. According to Schiffer, the Twitter CEO told staff that the "office is not optional."

☆ Elon Musk emailed Twitter staff at 2:30 a.m. telling them the 'office is not optional,' report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk emailed Twitter staff Wednesday about remote working, Platformer's Zoë Schiffer tweeted. The Twitter owner told them in an email sent at 2:30 a.m. that the "office is not optional." Musk noted in the email that the office in San Francisco was half empty Tuesday, Schiffer tweeted. Platformer managing editor Zoë Schiffer tweeted: "Elon Musk sent Twitter employees an email at 2:30am saying the 'office is not optional.'" In May 2022 he told Tesla staff to return to the office full-time, or find jobs elsewhere.

☆ Apple is threatening to take action against staff who aren't coming into the office 3 days a week, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple has threatened action against staff over office attendance, per Platformer's Zoë Schiffer. Last summer, Apple told all corporate employees to work from the office three days a week. While he said it wasn't an inferior way of working, Apple has been more insistent than its peers about getting workers back into the office. Meanwhile, Elon Musk reportedly emailed Twitter staff in the early hours of Wednesday to remind them about the company's remote working policy. According to Schiffer the Twitter CEO told staff in an email send at 2:30am that the "office is not optional."

☆ Twitter employees' Google Chat service was disabled without explanation before the new round of layoffs, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Google Chat service used by Twitter staff was disabled last week, The Verge reported. Musk reportedly cut at least 200 Twitter employees including multiple engineers, product team members, and director of product management Esther Crawford. Platformer's Zoë Schiffer tweeted on Monday that Twitter was bringing its Slack service back but old channels were being archived. During previous layoffs, Twitter workers flooded Slack with farewell messages. Twitter's total headcount is estimated to be below 2,000, down from 7,500 before Musk took over, The Verge reported citing current and former employees.

☆ One of Elon Musk's most loyal employees was fired at Twitter. Here's how she went from surviving layoffs to the chopping block in the span of a few months.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Crawford spent over two years at Twitter, according to her LinkedIn, working on projects like Twitter Blue and Spaces. Insider's Kali Hays first reported in January that 50 people on Twitter's product team were set to be let go. Following the first round of layoffs in November, The Verge reported Crawford told employees at Twitter that mass firings were "required" for Twitter to survive, which distanced herself from her colleagues. Unnamed employees at Twitter acknowledged this prominence in the FT report, saying she and Musk began working closely following the takeover. "She has become a bit of an interpreter between Elon and the product team," one senior staffer told FT.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter will take legal action against a 'disgruntled employee' who the CEO says leaked false information to suggest his tweets were boosted
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said Twitter was taking legal action against a worker who the CEO said leaked false info. He said the worker was the source of a Platformer report, which said Musk's tweets had been boosted. A Twitter user asked Musk on Friday whether the Platformer report was false. He did not name the employee against whom he said Twitter was taking legal action. Casey Newton, a journalist at Platformer, told Insider: "Elon's tweet is completely false.

☆ Elon Musk asked engineers to boost his tweets after Joe Biden's Super Bowl post got more engagement than his, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Musk asked engineers to find ways to promote his tweets after the Super Bowl, Platformer reported. Musk made the request after President Joe Biden received more engagement for an Eagles tweet. Engineers worked under the threat of being fired to create a system that would boost his tweets. Biden's tweet gained nearly 29 million impressions, while Musk's tweet got over 9 million impressions, Platformer's Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton reported. Platformer reported Tuesday that the boost factor for Musk's tweets is now lower than 1,000.

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