'Elon Musk doesn't know what he's doing', says former Twitter executive

"I think Elon thought he was going to come in and solve everything and very quickly he's going to work out that it's far more complicated," he told podcast The News Agents this weekend. "It's pretty evident from every public action that he's taken with this whole acquisition: he doesn't know what he's doing."

In his address to staff, Musk issued multiple dour warnings. Employees should brace for 80-hour work weeks. There will be fewer office perks like free food. And he ended the pandemic-era flexibility that allowed employees to work from home.

Last week, he announced the formation of a content moderation council, bringing together "widely diverse viewpoints", and said no decisions on moderation or account reinstatements would be taken until that council had convened.

Even so, Twitter appears to have spooked some advertisers, with several reportedly having paused their ad spend and others understood to be considering their position.

General Mills, known for Cheerios and Lucky Charms cereals, became the latest to pause its advertising on the platform last Thursday, with a spokesperson saying it would "continue to monitor" Twitter's new direction. Pfizer, Mondelez, General Motors and Volkswagen are also reported to have temporarily halted their spend.

Additionally, two of Twitter's last remaining top executives are said to be leaving the company. Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of trust and safety, and Robin Wheeler, the head of ad sales, are out, according to a report by The Verge.

Is the new CEO blowing things out of proportion?

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