Twitter might go bankrupt, warns Elon Musk after senior executives leave company
San Francisco: Elon Musk reportedly said on Thursday, barely two weeks after he bought it for $ 44 billion, that Twitter is possibly on the way to bankruptcy.
The deal over the purchase of the social media platform, according to credit experts, affected Twitter’s finances ‘negatively’, reported NDTV.
Musk is learned to have informed Twitter employees over call that the possibility of bankruptcy could not be ruled out. He is also said to have told them so after a warning from a US regulator and also the resignation of senior executives considered the future leaders of the company.
Yoel Ruth and Robin Wheeler, executives, who had been moderating a Twitter Spaces chat with Musk on Wednesday as he tried to appease advertisers, have resigned, said sources. Lea Kissner, Twitter’s chief security officer, posted on Twitter on Thursday, that she had quit.
Damien Kieran, chief privacy officer of the company, and Marianne Fogarty, chief compliance officer, too have resigned, as per an internal message to Twitter’s Slack system on Thursday by an attorney on the privacy team of the company, sources added.
On Thursday afternoon, holding his first meeting with all employees of the social media company, Musk had reportedly warned that Twitter might lose billions of dollars in the coming year. He has also said that the company is losing more than $ 4 million a day, which is attributed largely to advertisers withdrawing from Twitter since the takeover followed by the new owner’s outright firing of employees.
Twitter is now in debt of $ 13 billion, on which it faces interest payment close to $ 1.2 billion within the next one year. The payments, however, exceed Twitter’s recently disclosed cash flow, which was $ 1.1 billion, till June-end.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that, after the resignation of three privacy and compliance officers of Twitter, it was watching the company with concern, as the loss of major hands put Twitter at a risk of violating regulatory orders.
Douglas Farrar, director of public affairs at the FTC, reportedly warned, “No CEO or company is above the law, companies must follow our consent decrees. The revised consent order of the FTC equips us ensure compliance, and we will use them if necessary.”
The FTC had alleged in May that Twitter had misused information, including phone numbers, to target advertising to users, although users were told that the information was being collected only for security purposes. The social media platform agreed to pay $ 150 million to settle the allegations.
Twitter, however, did not reply to queries on the possibility of bankruptcy, the Commission warning or resignations of executives.
While Musk, communicating with advertisers on Twitter’s Spaces feature, told the advertisers that he aimed to turn Twitter into a force of truth and put a halt on fake accounts, the advertisers don’t seem convinced.
Several brands, including General Motors and Chipotle Mexican Grill, have put a halt on their advertising on Twitter since Musk took over, reportedly concerned over the violation of moderation rules by the new head.
Chipotle Mexican Grill is learned to have said on Thursday that they would like to gain a better understanding of the platform under the new leadership.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
