Elon Musk says he sleeps on a sofa at Twitter headquarters and his canine is CEO in new wide-ranging interview

In a wide-ranging interview with BBC Information, Elon Musk revealed particulars about his management at Twitter – together with his mass layoffs and appointing a brand new “CEO” – his canine. 

Musk, 51, took over the social media firm in November, calling himself “Chief Twit,” however promised he would appoint new management. It doesn’t seem that occurred, however in an interview with BBC News’ James Clayton on Twitter Spaces, a livestreaming perform of the social media website, Musk joked that he did.

“I did stand down,” he mentioned. “I hold telling you, I am not the CEO of Twitter. My canine is the CEO of Twitter.” Up to now, Musk tweeted a photoshopped image of his dog, Floki, as CEO. 

And whereas it could appear unconventional to many, Musk mentioned he sleeps on the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco typically. “There is a library no one goes to on the seventh ground and there is a sofa there and typically I sleep there,” he mentioned. 

This behavior just isn’t new to Musk, who was identified for sleeping at Tesla headquarters typically. After exhibiting “CBS Mornings'” Gayle King his sleep set-up at Tesla in 2018 – a bench in a convention room – a GoFundMe was created to “purchase Elon a sofa.” That very same yr, he advised the New York Occasions he labored as much as 120 hours per week and typically takes Ambien to get to sleep.

In talking with BBC Information, Musk mentioned he does not sleep at Twitter 5 days per week as a result of he is not on the headquarters 5 days per week. He additionally runs Tesla and SpaceX and is without doubt one of the richest males on the earth. Musk additionally has 9 dwelling kids, solely two of whom are legally adults, with three ladies.

Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion, promoting lots of his Tesla shares to have the ability to accomplish that, which he advised BBC Information he didn’t need to should do. 

After taking on, Musk promptly laid off a big portion of Twitter’s workforce – about 7,500 individuals – however mentioned it did not damage Twitter’s performance. He mentioned the individuals who predicted that it could stop to work as a result of so many engineers left are clearly improper. “We’re on Twitter proper now,” he mentioned, referring to the Twitter Areas platform. 

He claimed the mass layoffs have been “one of many hardest issues” he is needed to do. “Not enjoyable in any respect. Painful,” he mentioned, including that Twitter now has simply 1,500 staff. 

Former staff sued Musk over the terminations, with some alleging he went again on guarantees he made about his takeover and not less than one saying he didn’t obtain correct notification of the layoffs, which violates California legal guidelines, in keeping with CBS Information Bay Space.

Musk wrote brash feedback and mocked laid-off staff on Twitter, together with an worker from Iceland named Haraldur Thorleifsson, an entrepreneur whose firm was acquired by Twitter who mentioned he was laid off with out warning earlier than being terminated. Thorleifsson — who makes use of a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy and was named Iceland’s individual of the yr final yr for his philanthropic efforts, together with constructing wheelchair ramps throughout the nation — requested for readability from Musk. 

Musk replied: “The fact is that this man (who’s independently rich) did no precise work, claimed as his excuse that he had a incapacity that prevented him from typing, but was concurrently tweeting up a storm. Cannot say I’ve a number of respect for that,” Musk wrote.

He later apologized for that remark, writing: “It was primarily based on issues I used to be advised that have been unfaithful or, in some circumstances, true, however not significant,” Musk mentioned.

Musk typically shares tweets that some discover controversial or outlandish and he admitted he has shot himself within the foot “with tweets a number of instances.”

“I feel I mustn’t tweet after 3 a.m.,” he mentioned. “If you are going to tweet one thing that perhaps is controversial, reserve it as a draft then have a look at it the subsequent day and see for those who nonetheless need to tweet it.”

He additionally admitted the criticism he receives is taxing, including that he does not have a “stone-cold coronary heart.” 

“If you happen to’re beneath fixed assault and that is getting fed to you nonstop, together with by Twitter, that is powerful,” he mentioned of the imply tweets and criticism he is obtained. He mentioned, nonetheless, the suggestions is usually obligatory, so he does not mute his mentions, or tweets the place individuals point out his Twitter deal with. 

On the subject of banning TikTok, Musk mentioned he does not use it however he is heard individuals remorse most of their time spent on the video app, which is beneath scrutiny for its privateness and information insurance policies and is being investigated by the federal authorities. “We do not need regretted time, we wish un-regretted time, the place you be taught issues,” he mentioned. “I get extra laughs out of Twitter than anything and many individuals inform me the identical factor. In order that’s factor.”