“Houston, we have a problem.” The sentence pronounced by astronaut Jack Swigert to alert the NASA control center in Houston (Texas) of the explosion that had paralyzed Apollo-13 in 1970 remains like the ‘One of the most famous euphemisms. Elon Musk could today take him back on his own. The “problem” does not concern SpaceX, its company specializing in space conquest, which so far works very well, but the acquisition in October of Twitter.
During a forum organized a few days ago on the social network, the famous entrepreneur did not give in the euphemism by comparing the situation of the company to “an airplane to the ground in Vive Allure with its flame engines and orders that no longer answer “. And to add: “This is the reason why the measures I take may sometimes seem wrong.”
Elon Musk has always had a certain talent for storytelling in order to sell his successes. But about Twitter, the uncontrollable boss only rewrises history.
Why agree to spend $ 44 billion (41 billion euros) to buy a cabin about to take fire two months later? Elon Musk poses in superheroes, last resort to avoid a disaster, while it is ultimately only a pyromaniac firefighter who presumed his capacities by ideology and arrogance.
pressure pressure Unbearable
Admittedly, Twitter’s economic model did not wait for Elon Musk to beat the wing. When the social network was bought, the company was already losing altitude, but it had not yet won. This is now the case. The losses could be around $ 4 billion this year against 221 million in 2021 with a turnover which should collapse by 40 %, according to forecasts by the new owner.
The pressure was already strong before the buyout. She has become unbearable. To finance the operation, the company contracted a debt of $ 12.5 billion, which must now be reimbursed at the rate of 1.5 billion per year, all in a context of rapid rise in interest rates. It is the change of owner who contributes to the feeling of urgency that the company knows.
As soon as he arrived, Elon Musk saw fit to administer a horse remedy without worrying about whether he was going to heal or finish Twitter. The company’s workforce has been amputated in half, leaving the keystations vacant and disarming the social network to moderate content.
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