Elon Musk shows up late to first Twitter meet; shares thoughts on layoffs, freedom of speech & remote work

Anything the world’s richest man does grabs headlines. Elon Musk addressed Twitter employees, ahead of his USD 44 billion acquisition of the social media giant, on Thursday. His cavalier attitude and nonchalance are what sets him apart from the league of billionaires in the world.

Apparently, the 50-year-old entrepreneur showed up some 10 minutes late to the first meeting where he was to address Twitter employees. Interestingly, the Tesla chief dialled in from his smartphone to attend the meeting.

Alex Heath from 'The Verge' took to Twitter to share a screenshot of Musk’s interaction through his smartphone with Twitter executives. As if dialling in from the handheld device was not an anomaly for the CEO, Musk went on to offer some of his interesting views on his Twitter bid.

The Art Of Expression
According to Heath, when asked Musk why he loved Twitter, the billionaire responded by saying, “Some people use their hair to express themselves. I use Twitter." The SpaceX Chief went on to say that people should be allowed to say outrageous things within the law although it should not be amplified. Heath stated that Musk asserted his mantra – ‘Freedom of speech is not the same as the freedom of reach’.

According to Musk, if Twitter wanted more users then it should mimic the approach of the popular Chinese app, WeChat. “You basically live on WeChat in China….if we can recreate that with Twitter we’ll be a great success,” Musk was quoted saying by Heath.

Addressing Employee Concerns
In the first meeting, Twitter employees reportedly expressed their concerns surrounding layoffs, remote work, reduced focus on content moderation, etc.

Musk had recently asked employees at Tesla to resume work from the office for the usual 40 hours a week or resign. Reportedly, the CEO justified his stand by saying, “Tesla makes cars, and you can’t make cars remotely.” The business magnate also expressed his strong bias towards working in person. When asked about layoffs, the billionaire reportedly said that it will largely depend on Twitter’s financial situation.

The CEO of Tesla had agreed to buy Twitter earlier this year, however, he has also expressed his hesitation in recent times. Musk alleged that Twitter had not fully disclosed the number of spam or fake accounts on the platform.