How do you make a small fortune? The old joke suggests you start with a large one. But Elon Musk isn’t laughing at that punch line, as Twitter has drastically shrunk in its valuation, at least in his eyes.
The New York Times reports that Musk claims Twitter is now worth $20 billion, a figure way down from the $44 billion spent last October to purchase the platform. Musk made his claim in an email sent to company employees, the Times said, adding it had seen the note.
The email was sent to employees to announce a stock compensation program. In it, Musk said Twitter was still in bad shape financially, even as massive layoffs and cutting perks have shrunk the headcount. He claimed the company was four months away from running out of money at one point, necessitating the changes.
“Twitter is being reshaped rapidly,” Musk wrote, adding that the company could be thought of as “an inverse start-up.”
Under Musk’s stock plan, Twitter employees will receive grants for the holding company used to buy Twitter. Workers will be able to sell the privately held stock every six months, something also done at Musk’s SpaceX.
