Billionaire Elon Musk, who last week acquired the social network Twitter, announced a complete overhaul of the platform’s user account verification process. “The entire verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk wrote on Twitter last Sunday, without elaborating.

After a user’s account is verified or authenticated, a blue icon appears next to the name. According to the platform’s rules, the account must be active and “associated with a known person or brand” to pass verification.

According to familiar sources and internal correspondence seen by the specialized portal The Verge, the new directive is going to change Twitter Blue, the company’s optional subscription of $4.99 per month, for one of $19.99 that also includes verification. of the users.

Employees working on the project were informed last Sunday that they have to meet a deadline of November 7 to launch the feature or they will be fired, according to the aforementioned media.

It was also learned that the billionaire Saudi prince Al Walid bin Talal has become the second largest investor in Twitter, after the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, completed the acquisition of the social network for 44 billion dollars. and now be in charge of the company.

According to a statement published last Friday in Al Waleed bin Talal’s account, his conglomerate Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), one of the most successful international investment companies, and the private office of the prince himself “announce the transfer of his ownership of existing Twitter stock (34,948,975 shares) valued at $1.89 billion to the ‘new’ Twitter, led by Elon Musk.”

At the same time, it is noted that KHC and the prince “are jointly the second largest investor”, after Musk. “This deal is in line with the long-term investment strategy for which Kingdom Holding Company is known,” the statement published under the prince’s comment concludes: “Dear friend ‘Chief Twit’ (Twitter boss), Elon Musk. Together all the way.”

In April, Twitter announced that it had reached a definitive agreement with Musk to sell the company for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share. In July, the tycoon suddenly canceled the acquisition agreement, for which the social network filed a lawsuit to force him to fulfill his offer. Later, he filed a counterclaim.

Last Thursday, the businessman confirmed the purchase of the platform less than 24 hours before the expiration of the term that a court had given him to open a process if the acquisition was not formalized.

TWP: Elon Musk could fire 25% of Twitter employees

Roughly a quarter of Twitter’s staff will lose their jobs in a first round of layoffs within the company, now that Elon Musk has taken over, says the US newspaper The Washington Post with reference to sources familiar with the matter.

Members of Musk’s inner circle met this weekend with company executives to discuss details about new policies that will govern the social network and initial plans to cut staff.

According to the WP report, attorney Alex Spiro, Musk’s longtime legal representative, led the talks, which were attended by David Sacks and Jason Calacanis, former associates of the tycoon.

It is estimated that about 2,000 people may be removed from the payroll of the company, whose workforce is estimated at more than 7,000 employees.

The layoffs in the coming days will affect all departments, but especially the sales, product, engineering, legal and security sections, detailed one of the sources on condition of anonymity.

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that the layoffs will take place “by November 1, the date employees were supposed to start receiving stock grants as part of their severance pay.” However, the next day Musk himself described the report as “false”.

On Saturday, The New York Times reported that the layoffs will take place “by November 1, the date employees were supposed to start receiving stock grants as part of their severance pay.” However, the next day Musk himself described the report as “false”.

On Thursday, the tycoon ruled out that he had plans to expel 75% of the workforce, something that some media had hinted at. Meanwhile, a third person put the percentage of layoffs at about 50%, citing Jared Birchall, Musk’s right-hand man.

So far, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has only fired a few top executives and sent engineers from his automaker to assess Twitter’s software code, saying he plans to form a content moderation expert council.

(With information from RT in Spanish)

The media points out that the two-decade alliance between the tycoon and the Government allowed the US to establish global dominance in space, bet on the introduction of electric cars and gain ground in the world of technology.

However, today in Washington they are grateful to Musk for the progress he has made in areas of national security, but they also call the businessman “too powerful and reckless.”

Following certain statements by Musk directed at American public figures, including Joe Biden, many White House officials spoke out about the billionaire’s personality, describing him, for the most part, as an erratic and arrogant but brilliant man.

“He believes he is such a gift to humanity that he doesn’t need protective barriers, that he knows what is best,” said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“He sees himself above the presidency,” said Jill Lepore, a Harvard historian who has presented several podcasts about the businessman.

“The bottom line is that people hang on to his every word because he’s said it many times,” said Illinois Sen. Richard J. Durbin. “I hope he shows some respect for that responsibility,” he added.

Meanwhile, Musk himself has limited himself to stating on occasion that the objective of his comments is “to improve the future of humanity.”
But the truth is that Musk’s relationship with Washington began in 2008, after signing a major contract with NASA at a time when the businessman was heavily in debt. Washington subsequently poured billions of dollars into SpaceX, and in return, Musk rebuilt the US space program.

However, today the businessman is increasingly critical of the federal government and at the same time establishes more links with foreign policy. Musk also maintains commercial ties with South Korea, Turkey, Germany and China, in addition to owning and controlling more satellites than any country: more than 3,000 units.
As time goes by, Musk needs Washington less, while the US leadership remains dependent on him.

“The US military uses its rocket and satellite communications services for its drones, ships and aircraft. NASA currently has no way of getting American astronauts to the International Space Station without their space capsule. And, at a time when climate change is a top White House priority, it has more electric cars on US roads than any other manufacturer,” the article says.
In this context, reports emerged about Washington’s efforts to lessen its dependence on Musk through interaction with other companies.
However, few seek a direct confrontation with the tycoon.

Biden has already made this mistake by not inviting Musk to a White House conference on electric vehicles in August 2021. In response, the businessman called the decision “next level of insanity” and accused the US president of be controlled by the unions.

Subsequently, he dedicated himself for quite some time to calling attention to every blunder by Biden on his social networks and in public statements.
The media highlights that there are many people who do like to do business with Musk, not only for fear of his possible reaction, but also because of his achievements. In this way, the number of projects that the billionaire is working on is far from decreasing, but, on the contrary, increasing.

“We should be concerned, not because it is inevitable that his influence will be negative, but because it is inevitable that he will be a major influence,” Jill Lepore concluded.
After the publication of The Washington Post, one of the billionaire’s followers on social networks dedicated a tweet to the article.

“WP says that Elon Musk is a threat to national security. ‘Democracy dies in the dark,’ says his tagline, but instead ‘democracy dies when influential people use journalism to protect powerful interests while misleadingly claiming they are protecting the interests of ordinary people,’” the comment reads. .
“Exactly,” Musk responded on Sunday. “WP are very hypocritical,” he stated.

(Taken from RT in Spanish)