Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, has admitted to making mistakes since taking over the company two months ago.
Since purchasing the company in late October, Musk has carried out major changes, including layoffs of more than half the staff, a botched initial rollout of the Twitter Blue subscription service, and rapid release of new features such as view counts on tweets.
Speaking on the All-In Podcast, David Friedberg, one of the podcast hosts, probed Musk on the controversies he has faced at Twitter.
‘My error rate in being the Chief Twit will be less over time, but in the beginning, we’ll make, obviously, a lot more mistakes, because I’m new to… hey, I just got here, man,’ Musk told the All-In Podcast on Saturday. ‘I think we’ll have fewer gaffes in the future,’ he added. ‘I think we’re actually executing well and getting things done.’
‘I’m a big believer in, you want to look at the net output,’ Musk responded. ‘So, it’s sort of like, what’s the batting average?’ ‘You’re going to swing for the fences, you’re going to strike out a bit more, but we’re going to swing for the fences here at Twitter, and we’re going to do it quickly,’ he said.
Musk, who completed his takeover of the company on October 27, Musk estimated in the interview that Twitter currently has about 2,000 employees, down sharply from the 7,500 workers employed at the end of last year.
Musk also conceded that his absolute power as Twitter’s sole director could carry some risks. ‘I guess I’m in some ways in a fortunate position, where I don’t have to answer — it’s not public, and we don’t have a board, really,’ he said.
‘I can take actions that are drastic. And obviously, if I make a bunch of mistakes, then Twitter won’t succeed, and that will be pretty embarrassing and sad.’