Elon Musk says Twitter no longer 'in the fast lane to bankruptcy'

Musk's cost-cutting measures

Musk was wary of Twitter's expenses even before he took over the company, which he viewed as bloated. Reports had emerged that he could fire as many as 5,000 employees as a cost-cutting measure. When the company did announce layoffs, it trimmed down multiple teams inside the organization, at times leaving skeletal staff or worse to handle the day-to-day workings.

Reports also suggest that Musk reduced employee perks such as company lunches, costing as much as $400 a meal. These moves seemed to have given Musk the confidence that the company may be out of danger of bankruptcy in the immediate future.

He also warned against complacency at this stage when he tweeted,

Twitter isn’t secure yet, just not in the fast lane to bankruptcy. Still much work to do.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 25, 2022

This isn't the first time, Musk has warned of bankruptcy at a company he owns. Last year, as employees at his space venture SpaceX were looking to unwind for the Thanksgiving holidays, he fired off an email warning them of bankruptcy risk and asking them to return to the company offices to get the job of developing Raptor engines done.

At Twitter, though, part of the problem has been Musk, who added $10 billion debt to the social media company's books when he took over. Interesting Engineering has previously reported that Twitter's annual interest payouts for all its debt are expected to be more than a billion dollars.

Musk's internet activism

While Musk still needs to figure out how Twitter will make its payments in the light of stalled advertisements on the platform, his other company SpaceX continues to be the beacon of information in areas of the world that are facing unrest.

Earlier this year, Musk-led SpaceX began offering its Starlink-based satellite internet services in Ukraine days after the Russian invasion began. This time around, SpaceX has launched internet services in Iran, which has been engulfed in public protests against the oppression by the government.

Musk tweeted that Starlink services in the region were now nearly 100 satellites strong and could help protestors circumvent government restrictions on accessing the country's internet and social media sites.