Musk wants to cut salaries on Twitter and make money from tweets, says agency

Elon Musk has told the banks that helped finance the Twitter takeover that he may cut salaries for the social media company’s executives and board in an effort to cut costs and develop new ways to monetize tweets, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Reuters agency.

Musk made the proposal as he tried to secure the $44 billion purchase of the social network, the sources said. His presentation of bank commitments was instrumental in getting the Twitter board to accept his offer.

Musk had to convince the banks that Twitter produced enough cash flow to pay off the debt. In the end, he won $13 billion in secured loans and a $12.5 billion margin loan tied to his Tesla shares. He agreed to pay the remainder of the consideration with his own money.

Musk tweeted about eliminating the salaries of Twitter’s board directors, which he says could result in about $3 million in savings. Twitter’s 2021 stock-based compensation was $630 million, up 33% from 2020, corporate filings show.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Musk’s rep declined to comment.

Musk told banks he also plans to develop features to increase the business’s revenue, including new ways to cash in on tweets that contain important information or go viral, the sources said.

Ideas include charging a fee when a third-party site wants to quote or embed a tweet from verified individuals or organizations.

Earlier this month, Musk hinted at a number of changes to the premium subscription service Twitter Blue, including lowering its price, banning advertising, and giving the option to pay in dogecoin cryptocurrency. Twitter’s premium Blue service now costs $2.99 ​​a month. Musk also told banks that he will pursue moderation policies on the social media platform that are as free as possible within the legal restrictions of each jurisdiction, the sources said, a position he has publicly repeated.