Musk: Twitter to break even in 2023
Musk explains Twitter’s financial situtaion during a Twitter Spaces chat, saying that after cutting staff and costs, Twitter is now on track to bring in around $3 billion in revenue in 2023 – roughly $2 billion less than the $5.1 billion reported at the end of 2021, while the company has $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet. He in part blamed the $12.5 billion in debt tied to his April agreement to buy the company, as well as the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate hikes.
[It was like being] in a plane that is headed towards the ground at high speed with the engine on fire and the controls don’t work…With the changes that we’re making here on massively reducing the burn rate and building subscriber revenue, I now think that Twitter will, in fact, be OK next year, I think we will be…roughly cash-flow break-even — that’s what I expect for next year.
He says advertisers have been asking “sane” but “tough” questions about their return on investment,
[Decisions] may seem sometimes spurious or odd or whatever. It’s because we have an emergency fire drill on our hands. That’s the reason. Not because I’m naturally capricious. Or at least, aspirationally, I’m not naturally capricious.
Musks says he has ‘too much work on his plate’
In a videolink interview for the B20 Indonesia conference in Bali, Musk, who is wearing a traditional batik shirt sent by the event’s organizers, says that has too much work:
You know my workload has recently increased quite a lot. I mean, I have too much work on my plate that is for sure. No doubt about it
When asked about his thoughts on other business leaders in Asia who wish to become the “Elon Musk of the East” the Tesla CEO says:
I’d be careful what you wish for. I’m not sure how many people would actually like to be me. They would like to be what they imagine being me, which is not the same thing as actually being me. The amount that I torture myself is next level, frankly.
Musk also noted that longer video content is coming to Twitter.
Twitter for sure, I think it’s gonna be a lot more on video… And it’s kind of a no-brainer to enable longer video and also enable content creators to make a living with content on Twitter
Proposes China-Taiwan peace plan
In an interview with The Financial Times, Musk talks about his plan for China-Taiwan relations
My recommendation … would be to figure out a special administrative zone for Taiwan that is reasonably palatable, probably won’t make everyone happy. And it’s possible, and I think probably, in fact, that they could have an arrangement that’s more lenient than Hong Kong.
GQ Interview: Colonize Mars before WWIII
In an interview with GQ, Musk says a Mars mission is important to help ensure the long term survival of mankind. He says he will announce detailed plans of the Mars Colonisation Transport programme in 2016.
You back up your hard drive…. Maybe we should back up life, too? I think we need to acknowledge that there’s certainly a possibility of a third World War, and if that does occur it could be far worse than anything that’s happened before. Let’s say nuclear weapons are used. I mean, there could be a very powerful social movement that’s anti-technology. There’s also growth in religious extremism. Like, I mean, does ISIS grow…?
60 Minutes interview
Scott Pelley profiles Musk on 60 Minutes:
If something’s important enough, you should try it even if the probable outcome is failure
Maxim Interview
Musk talks about coming along at the right time to start his business ventures:
Yeah, I feel like I’m here at the right time. If not for the Internet, where it’s possible to start with no capital and end up with a valuable company, it would have taken me a long time to build up these other businesses. It’s important to remember that being a good global citizen and a good businessman are not mutually exclusive.
Man on Mars
In an interview with the WSJ, Musk makes the case for an affordable electric car, the likelihood of his company SpaceX sending a man to Mars, and why he isn’t exactly like Iron Man’s Tony Stark.
I’ll put a man on Mars in 10 years