Musk claims Twitter is 'roughly breaking even' as BBC label dispute resolved

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter and CEO of Tesla, has announced that the social media platform will change the label of the BBC from "government-funded media" to "publicly funded" after the broadcaster objected to the original tag. Musk made this announcement during a recent interview with the public broadcaster, where he also mentioned that his experience running the site had been challenging, but claimed that the business was now "roughly breaking even" in terms of profitability. The BBC contacted Twitter last week regarding the label added to its main Twitter account, as per a report from the Guardian. Musk expressed his "utmost respect" for the organisation and stated that Twitter aims to be as truthful and accurate as possible with its labels.

The South African-born businessman who acquired Twitter for $44 billion last October claimed in the recent interview that advertisers were returning to the social media site after many had stopped advertising following his takeover, which caused a decline in revenue. Musk acknowledged that the past several months had been stressful and not easy, conceding that mistakes had been made during his ownership. However, he expressed optimism, stating that he believes Twitter is headed toward a good place, with the company trending toward being cashflow positive in a matter of months. When asked if he had any regrets about the purchase, Musk admitted that the "pain level has been extremely high" and that it has not been a carefree endeavour.

Musk admits firing people was not fun

Elon Musk admitted that he had initially wanted to pay less for Twitter after discovering more automated bots on the platform than he had expected. While he had previously stated that he would not sell the site even if offered the $44 billion he paid for it, he later clarified that he would consider selling it if he could be assured that the buyer would actively pursue the truth. Musk has faced criticism for the significant reduction in Twitter's staff, with almost half of the workforce being cut last autumn. He acknowledged that reducing the staff had been a challenging process, and revealed that he had reduced Twitter's employee numbers from "just under 8,000", when he took over the business, to "1,500" currently. Musk described the experience of firing such a large number of people as "not fun at all" and a painful process at times.