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Here's what Elon Musk just told Twitter employees

Elon Musk addressed Twitter employees ahead of his $44 billion acquisition. Here's what he said.

Twitter finishes in the red after Musk's all-hands address to employees
VIDEO4:2304:23
Twitter finishes in the red after Musk's all-hands address to employees

Elon Musk addressed Twitter employees on Thursday ahead of his $44 billion acquisition of the company.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO agreed to buy the company earlier this year, but has since expressed what seems to be hesitation about the deal, alleging that Twitter has not accurately disclosed the number of fake or spam accounts on the service.

Here are some of the answers to employee questions, according to a person watching a video call where Musk spoke.

Meeting has ended and employees are worried about layoffs

The all-hands meeting concluded around 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

According to a source, the majority of the reactions on Twitter's Slack messaging board were negative in nature.

Employees expressed that many of their worries about layoffs, remote work, a reduced focus on content moderation and inclusion and diversity measures were confirmed.

Employees also sent memes about how to brand themselves as exceptional, according to the source, an apparent reference to Musk's note that exceptional employees could likely continue to work remotely and would not have to fear layoffs.

—Lauren Feiner

Musk wants Twitter to reach 1 billion daily active users

Success at Twitter would look like a significant increase in daily active users, potentially topping 1 billion, Musk said, according to a source.

Twitter said in its Q1 2022 earnings that it had 229 million monthly daily active users.

Musk's definition of success would also include whether Twitter is helping further civilization and consciousness, he said.

—Lauren Feiner

Musk diverts into discussion of aliens

Musk briefly diverted the conversation into a discussion about aliens and human consciousness.

He said he hasn't seen actual evidence of aliens, according to a source.

—Lauren Feiner

Musk says he doesn't care about being CEO

Musk doesn't care about being CEO at Twitter, he said, according to a source.

He said he cares about driving the product in a particular direction, but isn't too hung up on titles.

—Lauren Feiner

Users should be allowed to say what they want on Twitter, Musk says

When it comes to legal but potentially harmful speech, Musk told Twitter employees, that people should be allowed to say what they want.

But that's different from Twitter promoting that speech, Musk said, according to the source.

Users have the right to filter out content they don't want to see, he added. Musk said the standard is much more than not offending people, it's that they are entertained and informed.

Musk reiterated a sentiment he made online earlier that if 10% of the far left and far right are upset, Twitter is doing the right thing.

Addressing the topic of inclusion and diversity, Musk said the most inclusive thing to do would be to get all humans on Twitter.

He said he believes in strict meritocracy.

—Lauren Feiner

Musk addresses question of possible layoffs at Twitter: The company needs to get healthy

Musk said layoffs at Twitter will depend on its financial situation.

"It depends. The company does need to get healthy," Musk said, according to the source. "Right now the costs exceed the revenue"

Musk said there has to be some rationalization of headcount or else Twitter won't be able to grow.

"Anyone who is a signification contributor has nothing to worry about," he said.

—Lauren Feiner

Musk has a strong bias toward in-person work

Musk, who recently told his employees at Tesla to come back to work in their offices 40 hours a week or resign, seemed to draw a distinction between working remotely at the car company and at Twitter.

"Tesla makes cars, and you can't make cars remotely," Musk said, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Musk did not detail what his policy on remote would look like for Twitter employees and said if someone is exceptional at their job, remote work is fine, according to the source.

But, Musk said his "bias is strongly towards working in person."

—Lauren Feiner

Musk on how he can build trust with Twitter employees

"If someone is getting useful things done, that's great. If they're not then I'm like why are they at the company."

-- Lauren Feiner

Elon Musk on free speech

Elon on free speech (paraphrased): People should be allowed to say anything they want, but that doesn't mean Twitter should promote it.

-- Lauren Feiner

Musk asked why he loves Twitter

Elon when asked why Twitter: "I love Twitter",  "I learn a lot from what I learn on Twitter." It's a "great way to get a message out", "some people use their hair to express themselves, I use Twitter"

-- Lauren Feiner

Employees are asking questions

Employees submitted questions s they are most interested in - no promise they will answer but highest ranked in categories of workplace policies (i.e. remote work), free speech, Elon's suggested product improvements and relationship with employees -- Lauren Feiner