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☆ Elon Musk makes Twitter visitors wait for more than an hour – and they cannot speak before being spoken to, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter visitors often wait more than an hour to speak to Elon Musk, The Washington Post reported. They're told not to speak before Musk, who sometimes watches videos in meetings, per WaPo. It added that visitors must wait to see Musk in an area next to the 10th-floor conference room that the CEO works from. A person close to Musk told The Post that he was "uncovering and solving and programming all night." Musk has previously told staff that Twitter 2.0 would be "extremely hardcore" and would involve working "long hours at high intensity."

Elon Musk's biggest fans: tech foundersLisa Blue/Philip Pacheco/Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/InsiderFrom the moment Elon Musk took control of Twitter, he has been moving fast, breaking things, and sparking outcry. This past week, he said he'd step down as CEO after a Twitter poll found most respondents wanted him to. For many Silicon Valley founders, Musk's approach to his Twitter takeover makes him a visionary. About 400 Pollen employees were camped out for five days to celebrate the UK-based events and travel company. But according to 31 former Pollen employees, the implosion was years in the making.

☆ Brazil election-denier camps 'incubators of terrorism,' new minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Gabriel Stargardter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Yesterday's serious events in Brasilia prove that the so-called "patriotic" camps have become incubators for terrorists," tweeted Flavio Dino. In a later tweet, Dino said he would propose the creation of "special groups to combat terrorism and irresponsible weaponry. News of the bomb added a new dimension to post-election violence in Brazil, where tensions remain high after Brazil's most fraught election in a generation. The Brasilia camp, outside the army headquarters, has become one of the country's most extreme. Police also found assault-style rifles and other explosives at an apartment rented by the man in Brasilia.

☆ Are You ‘Extremely Hardcore’ or Not? How Elon Musk Is Dividing Silicon Valley’s Elite
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Christopher Mims | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elon Musk has sometimes seemed like the person Silicon Valley would create if venture-funded engineers figured out how to build humans in a lab: the bold innovator fearlessly disrupting one industry after another with a nerdy verve. And yet these days, Silicon Valley’s investors, leaders and commentators are profoundly divided about tech’s billionaire icon, in ways that are revealing about Mr. Musk and about the state of the industry.

☆ The CEO of Elon Musk's Boring Company slept at Twitter HQ with his partner and newborn baby, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Boring Company CEO slept at Twitter's HQ with his partner and baby, The Information reported. Steve Davis and his family all slept in its makeshift bedrooms for weeks after the baby was born. Steve Davis spent the first few weeks after his baby was born sleeping in a makeshift bedroom in the San Francisco office, along with his partner. Forbes revealed earlier this month that the "Chief Twit" had converted some space in the San Francisco office into bedrooms. Soon afterwards the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection said it was investigating the building's use after a complaint was made.

☆ Twitter exec who took court action over Elon Musk's 'hardcore' stay-or-go ultimatum has now left the company, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Twitter executive who took court action over Elon Musk's "hardcore" deadline has left the company. Sinead McSweeney, who was Twitter's public policy VP, left her role on Thursday, Reuters reported. The latest Twitter layoffs, which began on Wednesday, affected half of Twitter's public policy team, according to messages seen by Insider's Kali Hays. In November, McSweeney secured a temporary injunction from an Irish court to keep her job after she failed to respond to Elon Musk's "hardcore" ultimatum. Earlier this month Twitter told an Irish court it had reinstated McSweeney as public policy VP.

The lawsuit claims Musk's ultimatum violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to offer reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities. They claim many Twitter employees with disabilities were forced to resign because they could not return to the office and meet Musk's demanding standards. The former employee, Dmitry Borodaenko, cannot represent a class of workers because he was fired before Musk asked employees to commit to longer hours, the company said. The lawsuit is one of four pending in the same court that stems from staff cuts at the company. Dozens of former Twitter employees filed complaints against the company this week in arbitration making similar claims.

☆ Twitter layoffs continue under Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Additional Twitter employees were terminated Thursday as part of ongoing, rolling layoffs under new owner Elon Musk, including from the public policy and media and entertainment teams, according to tweets from affected employees. As part of Thursday’s layoffs, the members of Twitter’s public policy team who had remained following last month’s mass layoffs were again cut down by about half to around 15 employees, a former Twitter employee with knowledge of the layoffs told CNN. Among the public policy team’s responsibilities are working with outside advisory groups such as the Twitter Trust and Safety Council, which the company disbanded earlier this month. More than 100 former Twitter employees have filed demands for arbitration or are participating in proposed class action lawsuits related to the layoffs. In the meantime, Musk may be considering finding someone else to head the social platform, after Twitter users voted over the weekend for him to step down as CEO.

Sinead McSweeney, global vice president for public policy, has left Twitter, according to two sources. The layoffs and departures of a high-ranking leader comes as regulators around the globe question Twitter's content moderation work and protection of user data after Musk cut the staff from more than 7,000 to under 2,000. The public policy team is responsible for interacting with lawmakers and civil society on issues including free speech, privacy and online safety. Nick Pickles, senior director for global public policy strategy, has taken over McSweeney's role, the two sources said. One source told Reuters that half of the 30 remaining members of Twitter's public policy team were cut on Wednesday, implying 15 people were laid off.

☆ Elon Musk expects Twitter to be 'cash flow break-even' next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Elon Musk said Twitter Inc is now on track to be "roughly cash flow break-even" next year, as the billionaire owner defended his deep cost-cutting measures at the social media platform. Twitter was previously tracking toward a "negative cash flow situation of $3 billion per year" before the cost cuts, Musk said on Wednesday while speaking in a Twitter Spaces audio chat. The controversial moves have rattled advertisers, who contribute 90% of Twitter's revenue. Musk said Twitter was previously on track to spend $5 billion next year. That amounted to negative cash flow of $3 billion, Musk said.

☆ Elon Musk, 'Chief Twit'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Kenneth Li | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

He solicited the view of the public before restoring banned accounts belonging to former U.S. President Donald Trump and other prominent U.S. election deniers. Most declined to return and work under “hardcore” conditions that entailed sleeping at the office as one employee demonstrated on Twitter. He has floated ideas ranging from building a version of China’s WeChat, a super app that would include everything from shopping to banking to social media. It has always punched above its weight and remains the preferred social media megaphone for world and industry leaders, revolutionaries and the media. Look to Musk to stoke political outrage in 2023 as he backs Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for a 2024 U.S. presidential bid while enticing Trump to start tweeting again.

☆ Twitter hit by legal complaints from 100 former employees following Musk’s layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The allegations were included as part of the former employees’ demands for arbitration against the company, according to a statement on Tuesday by attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. Liss-Riordan is the same attorney who has brought four proposed class action lawsuits against Twitter by former employees affected by Elon Musk’s takeover. The arbitration demands are meant to help workers who can’t participate in that litigation because of contracts they signed with the company. She added that her firm has heard from hundreds of former Twitter employees and has filed only the “first wave” of arbitration demands. Liss-Riordan has also filed three complaints against Twitter with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of employees affected by the layoffs.

☆ Self-driving-car developer at Twitter resigns a month after starting a 12-week internship
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Self-driving-car developer George Hotz tweeted last month he was starting a Twitter internship. Hotz tweeted a poll on Monday, asking if he should "step down as a Twitter intern?" After Musk's November email asking Twitter employees to commit to an "extremely hardcore" work culture, Hotz tweeted that "is the attitude that builds incredible things. In the Twitter Space with Musk, Hotz said he removed the login popup "entirely," but that it was added back by other engineers who "messed up." While at Twitter, Hotz was critical of Twitter's brief policy of banning links to accounts on other social media platforms.

Elon Musk announced that he would step down as the CEO of Twitter. "Should I step down as head of Twitter?," Musk tweeted on Sunday afternoon. The search was already ongoing before Musk's poll on whether he would step down, CNBC reported, citing unnamed sources. Musk's search for a new Twitter CEO comes amid criticisms and concerns from Tesla shareholders and analysts that he is spreading himself too thin. Musk is also the CEO of Tesla, which share price has fallen 61% this year so far.

☆ Elon Musk has become a 'detriment' to the value of his companies, say 79 CEOs in new Yale School of Management poll
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

79% of CEOs surveyed at a Yale summit believe Elon Musk has become a detriment to the value of his companies. A new poll of CEOs by Yale School of Management showed that 79% of the 100 executives that were surveyed believe Musk has become a "detriment" to the value of his companies. A screenshot from Yale School of Management's 2022 survey of 100 CEOs, asking whether Elon Musk has become "a detriment" to the value of his companies. Yale School of ManagementThe survey was conducted at the invitation-only Yale CEO Summit held last week. Though, shares of the EV company appeared to respond positively to the possibility of Musk stepping down as CEO of Twitter on Monday.

☆ Welcome to Elon Musk's Fan Club
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jordan Parker Erb | Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

We didn't think refreshing Elon Musk's Twitter feed was how we'd spend it. Today, we're taking you inside the latest club in Silicon Valley: Elon Musk's fan club. Welcome to the Elon Musk fan club. Cue Musk's Twitter takeover: slashing headcount, revoking benefits, and cranking up productivity. Elon Musk is being forced to choose a company.

☆ Analysis: After a day of courtroom bickering and confusion, SBF is coming home
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The tl;dr version: It seems that SBF’s US lawyers worked out an agreement with Bahamian prosecutors to drop the extradition fight, which would have taken months, if not years, to play out. But SBF’s local defense lawyer, Roberts, said he wasn’t included in that plan, and claimed prosecutors wouldn’t share the US indictment with him. But then he was denied bail in the Bahamas, meaning he wouldn’t be able to fight extradition from the comfort of his luxury home. After a week of that, SBF is ready to face the music on US soil. To be sure, the federal detention facility in Brooklyn where SBF could end up while awaiting trial isn’t exactly the Ritz.

☆ Elon Musk's Crackdown at Twitter Offers Hope to Fellow Tech Founders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But there's one group, almost unnoticed in the midst of the online firestorm, that has been cheering Musk on from the sidelines: other tech executives. To some founders, Musk is simply a monstrous version of the executive they wish they could be. Musk is getting rid of perks like free meals in the Twitter cafeteria — and other tech executives are taking note. Musk's slash-and-burn approach gives tech executives cover for making unpopular decisions. But now, as tech companies cut back to prepare for a recession, the "rough waters out there" have forced his staff to "reevaluate" their demands.

I love giving and getting gift cards for the holidays, even though some people say they're impersonal. They offer the gift of timeNot only are you gifting store credit to their favorite places to shop, but gift cards also offer the gift of time. Plus, I can purchase gift cards online, or go to a store that offers a wall of different gift cards from other retailers to choose from. I've also scooped up discounts on gift cards during special promos, like 10% off gift cards up to a certain amount. Picking out gift cards to folks on my gift list have long been my go-to for the holidays, and as a gift card devotee, that's not going to change.

☆ Goodbye to the good life: The cushy perks of tech work are rapidly disappearing.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Asia Martin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Over the past year, more and more tech workers have seen perks pulled as companies try to ride out a tough market and potential recession. As perks disappear and performance reviews become more brutal, tech workers' compensation will remain high. But for tech workers who, quite literally, enjoyed a free lunch, it still feels like the end of an era. Layoffs have wracked the tech industry, with 150,000 tech workers losing their job in 2022. But it's clear that for some tech workers, this perk correction has been overdue.

☆ Elon Musk Was Always a Visionary Jerk, Bad Boss at SpaceX, Tesla. but It Won't Work at Twitter.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Elon Musk has a pretty tried-and-true playbook for doing business — he's used it for years to build companies from Tesla to SpaceX. Twitter is the antithesis of an "Elon Musk company." And without a big, world-changing promise to paper over his sophomoric product ideas and erratic management, Musk's Twitter takeover is doomed. No time to wasteA Musk company is usually the first, and sometimes the only, company in a specific market. Based on his most recent quarterly calls with investors — the ones where he is supposed to talk about plans to make more money — Musk does not have one.

☆ Elon Musk says he will step down as Twitter CEO if voted out by a poll he tweeted
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk tweeted a poll Sunday evening asking people to vote on whether he should step down as Twitter’s CEO. “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it,” Musk tweeted. A brief and incomplete recap:- Musk immediately laid off several top executives and laid off about half of Twitter’s staff. Replying to a tweet Sunday, in which MIT artificial intelligence researcher Lex Fridman said he would take the CEO job, Musk hinted he hasn’t been completely happy with his new gig. There is no successor,” Musk tweeted.

☆ Europe condemns Elon Musk suspending journalists from Twitter, warns of 'red lines'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Musk reinstated the suspended journalists early Saturday after a Twitter poll, but he had already drawn rebukes from the European Union and United Nations. “The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. officials have also estimated they will add more than 100 full-time staff by 2024 to enforce the Digital Services Act and other new rules on digital competition. “The Digital Services Act is unprepared for this kind of problem, because it’s not designed for that,” said Downing, speaking of Thursday’s suspensions of tech journalists. “There was never a conception that journalists would be banned from Twitter, because that’s not what Twitter does,” he added.

☆ Elon Musk is reportedly seeking investors for Twitter at $54.20 a share — the same price he paid for it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Musk's family office is looking for new investors for Twitter, according to Semafor. New shares of Twitter will be sold at $54.20, the same price Musk paid back in October. Musk also sold Tesla shares worth $3.6 billion, according to filings from the SEC. Birchall is apparently offering shares of Twitter to investors for the price of $54.20 a piece, Semafor reported. That's the same price that Musk paid with his $44 billion takeover of the company in October.

☆ Former employees suing Twitter over layoffs score an early victory
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —A group of former employees suing Elon Musk’s Twitter scored an early win Wednesday when a judge ordered the company to inform any laid-off staffers of the pending lawsuit. The order may be an early indication that the judge could be sympathetic to the employees’ argument. He later pushed out additional employees, asking remaining workers to agree to an ultimatum to work “hardcore” or leave the company. The others include complaints related to alleged disability and gender-based discrimination, as well as a suit on behalf of Twitter contractors who were laid off. The employees are seeking unspecified monetary damages, as well as a ruling that Twitter violated the California and federal WARN Acts requiring advanced notice of mass layoffs.

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