今年4月,埃隆·马斯克与推特董事会达成协议,出价440亿美元收购这家社交媒体公司。据《商业内幕》报道,本周四,马斯克将首次与推特员工见面。
这次交易也并非一帆风顺。马斯克最初曾咬住推特的机器人和虚拟账号问题不放。不过推特的内部分析认为,机器人和虚假账号占其可变现日活跃用户的比例还不到5%。但马斯克认为,这个数字低得不切实际。
为此,马斯克上个月专门冻结了这笔交易,并表示只有在推特董事会澄清这个问题后,交易才能继续进行。为了打破僵局,推特董事会最终还是向马斯特提供了内部数据渠道。
那么,在周四的见面会上,推特员工最想跟马斯克谈些什么?以下几个问题无疑将是他们最关心的。
马斯克会不会毁约走人?
马斯克选在这个时候与推特员工见面,的确是个不同寻常之举。自从4月4日,他透露自己已凭借9%的股份成为推特最大的个人股东后,特斯拉的股价就一路暴跌,使得这笔交易显得越来越不可能。
马斯克的大部分个人财富都与特斯拉深度绑定。不过最近一段时间以来,特斯拉的市值蒸发了43%以上,甚至超过了纳斯达克指数的平均跌幅(26%)——当然,这在一定程度上也与前几个月上海工厂因疫情停产有关。
前一阵子,马斯克还对推特进行了一番口诛笔伐,特别是推特CEO帕拉格·阿格拉瓦尔贴出了推特上的机器人账号数据后,马斯克竟然回了一个粑粑的表情。这不由让人猜测,马斯克是不是要以机器人账号的问题为借口,抽身撤出这笔交易,以减轻特斯拉股价的压力。
马斯克有可能会指责推特在机器人账号的问题上造假,并称这是一个“重大不利影响”,从而选择掏10亿美元的分手费走人——10亿虽然不是一个小数目,但对于全球首富来说只不过是零头,而且谅推特也没有胆子起诉这位“马首富”。不过这次马斯克选择了向推特团队讲话,这说明他还是在积极参与交易,可能只是想把价格再压低一点。
远程办公别想了?
前几天,特斯拉和SpaceX强迫员工全部重返办公室上班的事,在业界一石激起千层浪。在这个问题上几乎所有人都在批评马斯克,很少有例外。而推特是一家以灵活的工作环境著称的公司,推特员工可能很快也要执行“特斯拉标准”了。
马斯克曾表示,支持居家办公的人都是懒狗。如果员工想打这个歪心思,趁早收拾行李走人。
最近,马斯克还在推特上感言:“对职业道德的预期将会很极端”。从这番话中,推特员工应该已经有了一种山雨欲来之感吧。
“另外,对职业道德的预期将会很极端,但肯定比我对自己的要求低很多。”
埃隆·马斯克,2022年5月7日
推特能否容忍仇恨言论?
在这笔易之初,马斯克曾表示自己是个“绝对的言由自由者”,并表示不让特朗普使用推特是一个“道德上错误且愚蠢的决定”。随着交易的推进,他又开始批评民主党是一个容忍分裂和仇恨的政党,并表示要投票给共和党,还四处指责别人中了“醒脑病毒”。
目前,“1.6国会山暴乱”特别委员会的成员正在公开辩论执法官员是否有足够证据表明是特朗普引发了暴乱。与此同时,推特员工都在好奇马斯克将对仇恨言论或者对特朗普采取什么限制。不过特朗普本人已宣称自己无意重返推特,并表示他更青睐自己的“真相社交”平台。
推特会不会裁员?
推特最近一个季度的亏损表明,该公司正面临着一系列挑战。马斯克对经营亏损的公司并不陌生,不过这种亏损通常表明,这家公司正在进行大量的增长型投资。
从马斯克在特斯拉的作风看,一旦这笔交易成功达成,他很可能会迅速解决推特的低效问题。特斯拉去年四季度的运营开支为22亿美元,只是略高于竞争对手Rivian的21亿美元,但Rivian的规模却也比特斯拉小得多。
推特员工们都想知道,自己有没有可能上了这一波“优化”名单。据报道,马斯克曾威胁要解散推特董事会以节省成本。另外,马斯克还把刀子指向了首席法律顾问、人称推特“审查沙皇”的维贾亚·加德等高管。与此同时,推特CEO阿格拉瓦尔经过提前布局,已经完成了一些人事清洗,据称最近已经炒了两名高管的鱿鱼。
马斯克的精力够用吗?
马斯克喜欢将自己塑造成一个工作狂,而且他对员工的要求一点都不低。他要同时兼顾特斯拉和SpaceX的工作。要知道,这两家公司分别雇佣了大约11万名和1.2万名员工,并且都处于各自行业的最前沿,管理好这两家公司中的任何一家,都是一个费心费力的事。
一人身挑3家公司的经营工作,这确实是一件前所未有的事。不过目前看来,马斯克有可能会从阿格拉瓦尔手中接过推特CEO的位子,至少在过渡期有可能是这样。
但对于买了特斯拉股票的股民来说,这倒是一个值得担忧的问题,因为特斯拉的电动皮卡等关键产品一再跳票,但从马斯克向证券投资人做的关于收购推特的讲演来看,他正酝酿着一些重大改变,而这些显然会牵扯他更多的时间和精力。(财富中文网)
译者:朴成奎
今年4月,埃隆·马斯克与推特董事会达成协议,出价440亿美元收购这家社交媒体公司。据《商业内幕》报道,本周四,马斯克将首次与推特员工见面。
这次交易也并非一帆风顺。马斯克最初曾咬住推特的机器人和虚拟账号问题不放。不过推特的内部分析认为,机器人和虚假账号占其可变现日活跃用户的比例还不到5%。但马斯克认为,这个数字低得不切实际。
为此,马斯克上个月专门冻结了这笔交易,并表示只有在推特董事会澄清这个问题后,交易才能继续进行。为了打破僵局,推特董事会最终还是向马斯特提供了内部数据渠道。
那么,在周四的见面会上,推特员工最想跟马斯克谈些什么?以下几个问题无疑将是他们最关心的。
马斯克会不会毁约走人?
马斯克选在这个时候与推特员工见面,的确是个不同寻常之举。自从4月4日,他透露自己已凭借9%的股份成为推特最大的个人股东后,特斯拉的股价就一路暴跌,使得这笔交易显得越来越不可能。
马斯克的大部分个人财富都与特斯拉深度绑定。不过最近一段时间以来,特斯拉的市值蒸发了43%以上,甚至超过了纳斯达克指数的平均跌幅(26%)——当然,这在一定程度上也与前几个月上海工厂因疫情停产有关。
前一阵子,马斯克还对推特进行了一番口诛笔伐,特别是推特CEO帕拉格·阿格拉瓦尔贴出了推特上的机器人账号数据后,马斯克竟然回了一个粑粑的表情。这不由让人猜测,马斯克是不是要以机器人账号的问题为借口,抽身撤出这笔交易,以减轻特斯拉股价的压力。
马斯克有可能会指责推特在机器人账号的问题上造假,并称这是一个“重大不利影响”,从而选择掏10亿美元的分手费走人——10亿虽然不是一个小数目,但对于全球首富来说只不过是零头,而且谅推特也没有胆子起诉这位“马首富”。不过这次马斯克选择了向推特团队讲话,这说明他还是在积极参与交易,可能只是想把价格再压低一点。
远程办公别想了?
前几天,特斯拉和SpaceX强迫员工全部重返办公室上班的事,在业界一石激起千层浪。在这个问题上几乎所有人都在批评马斯克,很少有例外。而推特是一家以灵活的工作环境著称的公司,推特员工可能很快也要执行“特斯拉标准”了。
马斯克曾表示,支持居家办公的人都是懒狗。如果员工想打这个歪心思,趁早收拾行李走人。
最近,马斯克还在推特上感言:“对职业道德的预期将会很极端”。从这番话中,推特员工应该已经有了一种山雨欲来之感吧。
“另外,对职业道德的预期将会很极端,但肯定比我对自己的要求低很多。”
埃隆·马斯克,2022年5月7日
推特能否容忍仇恨言论?
在这笔易之初,马斯克曾表示自己是个“绝对的言由自由者”,并表示不让特朗普使用推特是一个“道德上错误且愚蠢的决定”。随着交易的推进,他又开始批评民主党是一个容忍分裂和仇恨的政党,并表示要投票给共和党,还四处指责别人中了“醒脑病毒”。
目前,“1.6国会山暴乱”特别委员会的成员正在公开辩论执法官员是否有足够证据表明是特朗普引发了暴乱。与此同时,推特员工都在好奇马斯克将对仇恨言论或者对特朗普采取什么限制。不过特朗普本人已宣称自己无意重返推特,并表示他更青睐自己的“真相社交”平台。
推特会不会裁员?
推特最近一个季度的亏损表明,该公司正面临着一系列挑战。马斯克对经营亏损的公司并不陌生,不过这种亏损通常表明,这家公司正在进行大量的增长型投资。
从马斯克在特斯拉的作风看,一旦这笔交易成功达成,他很可能会迅速解决推特的低效问题。特斯拉去年四季度的运营开支为22亿美元,只是略高于竞争对手Rivian的21亿美元,但Rivian的规模却也比特斯拉小得多。
推特员工们都想知道,自己有没有可能上了这一波“优化”名单。据报道,马斯克曾威胁要解散推特董事会以节省成本。另外,马斯克还把刀子指向了首席法律顾问、人称推特“审查沙皇”的维贾亚·加德等高管。与此同时,推特CEO阿格拉瓦尔经过提前布局,已经完成了一些人事清洗,据称最近已经炒了两名高管的鱿鱼。
马斯克的精力够用吗?
马斯克喜欢将自己塑造成一个工作狂,而且他对员工的要求一点都不低。他要同时兼顾特斯拉和SpaceX的工作。要知道,这两家公司分别雇佣了大约11万名和1.2万名员工,并且都处于各自行业的最前沿,管理好这两家公司中的任何一家,都是一个费心费力的事。
一人身挑3家公司的经营工作,这确实是一件前所未有的事。不过目前看来,马斯克有可能会从阿格拉瓦尔手中接过推特CEO的位子,至少在过渡期有可能是这样。
但对于买了特斯拉股票的股民来说,这倒是一个值得担忧的问题,因为特斯拉的电动皮卡等关键产品一再跳票,但从马斯克向证券投资人做的关于收购推特的讲演来看,他正酝酿着一些重大改变,而这些显然会牵扯他更多的时间和精力。(财富中文网)
译者:朴成奎
Elon Musk is set to meet Twitter staff on Thursday for the first time since he struck a deal with its board to acquire the social media platform for $44 billion in April, according to a report from Business Insider.
The outcome of the deal has recently hinged on Twitter’s own internal analysis that bots and fake accounts make up fewer than 5% of its monetizable daily active users (mDAU)—a claim Musk disputes as unrealistically low.
He froze the deal last month, saying he would only proceed once the board has provided clarity on the issue. It has since given Musk access to the “firehose” of its data in a bid to end the logjam.
Here are several issues Twitter staff will doubtlessly be eager to discuss with Musk on Thursday.
Will he follow through?
That Musk even is holding the meeting is unusual at this point. Ever since he revealed on April 4 that he had become the largest individual shareholder in Twitter with a 9% stake, shares in Tesla have tanked—making the deal seem increasingly unlikely.
The bulk of Musk's wealth is tied up in the EV company, which lost more than 43% of its value over the period, underperforming a 26% drop in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite. In part this was also due to a lengthy production shutdown at its Shanghai plant, the linchpin of its overseas operations, amid a COVID lockdown.
After he launched a barrage of attacks at the social media company, including famously replying with a poop emoji to a Twitter thread posted by CEO Parag Agrawal about the bot numbers, speculation grew that Musk might simply use the bot fracas as an excuse to walk away from the deal and try to take the pressure off Tesla's stock price.
He could potentially claim spurious bot count figures as a “material adverse effect”, pay the $1 billion breakup fee—pocket change for Musk—and dare Twitter to litigate the richest human being on the planet. But addressing the team indicates Musk is still actively engaged and may only be looking to drive down the price of the deal.
Will there be an end to WFH?
Critics peppered Musk with attacks over his “tone- deaf” decision to mandate a full return to office for Tesla and SpaceX employees, virtually without exception. Twitter, known for its flexible work environment, could soon see itself needing to apply the same standards.
Musk has criticized work-from-home advocates as lazy dogs, argued remote work is “phoning it in,” and told employees they can collect their belongings if they think otherwise.
Employees got a taste of what was to come when he tweeted recently “work ethic expectations would be extreme.”
Also, work ethic expectations would be extreme, but much less than I demand of myself
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 7, 2022
Will hate speech be tolerated?
Musk described himself at the start of the deal to be a “free-speech absolutist" and argued it was “morally wrong and flat-out stupid” to ban Donald Trump from the platform. As the deal wore on, he began aggressively attacking the Democrats as a party embracing division and hate, vowed to vote Republican, and questioned anyone infected by the “woke mind virus.”
With members of the Jan. 6 select committee now openly debating whether law enforcement officials have enough evidence to indict the ex-President for the riots, staff will likely be concerned about what limits Musk may place on hate speech, or on Trump. For his part, Trump has claimed he has no interest to return to Twitter, favoring his own Truth Social platform.
Will there be job cuts?
Twitter’s most recent quarterly loss shows the company suffers from a number of challenges, and while Musk is no stranger to running companies that bleed red ink, that red ink has usually reflected heavy investments in growth.
Musk's actions at Tesla indicate that he could be expected to move quickly to stamp out inefficiencies at Twitter if the deal goes through. Tesla posted operating expenses of $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter, barely higher than the $2.1 billion reported by its far smaller EV rival Rivian.
Twitter employees could be excused for wondering if such cost-cutting could have their name on it. Apart from threatening to eliminate Twitter’s board to save costs, Musk is reportedly targeting high-ranking execs including chief legal counsel Vijaya Gadde, dubbed by critics as Twitter’s “censorship czar.” Twitter CEO Agrawal meanwhile has done some of his own spring cleaning, sacking two senior execs in a management shakeup he argued was already planned.
Will he be stretched too thin?
Elon Musk fashions himself a workaholic who demands nothing less from his employees. While this is not unsurprising given he is his own lead shareholder, the serial entrepreneur splits his time between his CEO duties at Tesla with those of SpaceX. Each is arguably a full-time assignment, given they employ some 110,000 and 12,000 people, respectively, and are at the forefront of their industries.
Running another major corporation would be unprecedented, but Musk is believed to be looking to take over the reins as Twitter CEO from Agrawal, at least on an interim basis.
For investors in publicly traded Tesla, this represents a major cause for concern, given lapsed timelines on key products like the Cybertruck. Musk's presentation to Twitter equity investors who helped to finance the bid signaled he had big changes in store, something that will require more than minimal effort on his part.