Elon Musk news - live: Musk dumps $4bn worth of shares in Tesla shares as personal wealth drops below $200bn
Twitter lays off staff around the world as Musk continues to attract criticism in his new position
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Musk has been criticised for urging “independent-minded voters” to back Republican candidates in this week’s midterm elections.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, told his 115m followers that “shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties”, and that voters should therefore limit a Democratic president by voting for a Republican Congress.
The move appeared to cause a price-drop in Tesla’s stock that caused Mr Musk’s net worth to drop below $200bn.
It is the latest episode in a week of chaos the San-Francisco-based social network, which reportedly may have to rehire some of the staff that it fired last week because it needs their expertise.
Mr Musk decided to lay off almost 50 per cent of Twitter staff, with the company’s employees alerted on their job status by email after barring their entrances to offices and cutting off their access to internal systems overnight.
Elon Musk mocks Mastodon
Elon Musk has seemingly mocked Mastodon, the alternative site that many have embraced as they look to move away from Twitter.
Many high-profile users have already left the site, or threatened to leave. Some of them have moved onto Mastodon, an open source alternative to Twitter that has seen vast numbers of registrations in recent days.
But Mr Musk appeared to mock those who were switching over, referring to the site as “Masterbatedone”. He highlighted posts by US economist Paul Krugman, who appeared to have encountered technical problems when he signed up to the service.
Elon Musk mocks people signing up to Twitter alternative
Elon Musk has seemingly mocked Mastodon, the alternative site that many have embraced as they look to move away from Twitter.
Twitter may have to delay verification changes
Twitter will delay the rollout of their new system of verification check marks to subscribers of its $7.99 per month subscription service until after the US midterm elections on Tuesday, according to report by The New York Times.
The Times cites an internal post and two people with knowledge of the decision. The Independent has contacted Twitter for confirmation of the report.
The news comes just a day after the announcement of the new service in which users can pay to have a verification check mark on their profile.
Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk announced the initiative this week via the platform — one of many sweeping changes he is making to the social media site.
Twitter to delay rollout of paid blue checkmarks until after midterm, report says
An internal message raised the fear of possible “election interference” from the new paid verification system
Kathy Griffin has trolled Elon Musk by returning to Twitter via her dead mother’s account after being suspended.
The comedian was barred from the social media site for turning her user profile into a parody of its new owner.
Griffin’s account was soon removed, with Musk writing: “Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended.”
However, Musk soon received a tweet from the account Griffin’s mother Maggie used before her death, which had not been active since 2019.
“I’m back from the grave to say… #FreeKathy,” she wrote, later clarifying in a separate tweet: “Oh by the way this is KG. I’m tweeting from my dead mother’s account.”
Kathy Griffin trolls Elon Musk by defying Twitter ban using dead mum’s account
’I’m back from the grave,’ Griffin wrote
Twitter’s search tool could be improved
Mr Musk has also said that he wants to improve Twitter’s search tool.
“Search within Twitter reminds me of Infoseek in ‘98! That will also get a lot better pronto”, he said.
Other changes to Twitter in the short-term include a paywalled video player, rolling out a Verified badge for anyone subscribing to Twitter Blue, and paid-for DMs into celebrities accounts.
Elon Musk clamps down on parody accounts
Elon Musk is now banning anyone that is parodying him - unless they make it clear its a parody.
“Comedy is now legal on Twitter”, the billionaire said two days ago. It now seems he has changed his view.
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended,” the multibillionaire tweeted on Monday.
The Tesla chief’s tweet comes as several users impersonated him on the microblogging platform this weekend, including actor Valerie Bertinelli who changed her profile name to “Elon Musk” shortly after the company rolled out its new controversial paid-verification system.
“The blue checkmark simply meant your identity was verified. Scammers would have a harder time impersonating you. That no longer applies. Good luck out there!” Ms Bartinelli wrote.
Twitter accounts impersonating others to be banned without warning, Elon Musk says
Accounts of comedians Sarah Silverman and Kathy Griffin were suspended
Twitter may have to rehire its staff
Elon Musk may have to u-turn on firing employees, Bloomberg reports.
“Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake, according to two people familiar with the moves”, the publication states, citing people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity.
“Others were let go before management realized that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.”
Jack Dorsey apologises to staff for layoffs
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey broke his silence over the mass layoffs at the social media giant after Elon Musk takeover and apologised to staff for layoffs.
He wrote in a series of tweets: “Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient. They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realise many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologise for that.”
He added: “I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter. I don’t expect that to be mutual in this moment...or ever…and I understand.”
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