Elon Musk Is Making Another Ridiculous Change To Twitter
Elon Musk is now charging $1,000 to verify business accounts on Twitter.
Elon Musk has been a fixture in the media cycle for his many business ventures, most recently including the purchase and ownership of Twitter. The SpaceX CEO has made a series of absurd blunders during his short reign as chief twit including charging users for check marks, banning comedians for making fun of him, and feuding with Kanye West. Now Variety is reporting the apartheid emerald mine profiteer’s latest plan to save Twitter from bankruptcy: a $1,000 per month business verification charge.
After a very public months-long battle with the Twitter board, Elon Musk purchased Twitter back in October of 2022 for a hefty price tag of $44 billion. Musk’s incomparable business acumen and special touch for media outreach led him directly into the jaws of a $12.5 billion debt, complete with droves of instrumental Twitter employees instantly leaving the company or being fired. After a highly rocky transfer of management left millions of Twitter users to consider quitting the social media site, eventually, things seemed to return to a state of relative normalcy.
Of course, some of Elon Musk’s new tricks are here to stay, with the company’s media team maintaining that the original verification system is still on track to go the way of the dodo bird within the next few months, leaving only paid Twitter blue verification checks on the site. This latest move, charging $1,000 for gold verification badges for businesses, is another in a long line of money-making measures for the company after advertisers evaporated from the site once the new verification system took hold. Musk’s tumultuous system saw thousands of accounts that were parodying or impersonating others verified through the $8 check mark program, causing a host of public relations nightmares.
After a few very public stabs at course correction, the company returned with some stringent rules regarding verification requirements. Elon Musk has been hard at work courting advertisers to return, including partnering with two brand safety companies last month in order to monitor the site’s activity more. Regardless, this new $1,000 price tag seems to be another messy misstep for the company, with many brands threatening to simply leave or remain unverified.
Despite the enormous corporate bank accounts these companies possess, many corporations likely see the $1,000 per month charge as an unnecessary speed bump on a sinking ship, particularly when television advertising is as popular and effective as ever. With the Super Bowl just around the corner, Elon Musk couldn’t have picked a worse time to demand additional spending from his corporate peers. Of course, only time will tell if this bold strategy pays off, but early social polling on Twitter seems to suggest this move will be a flop, with Musk already wavering on the price, suggesting he’s open to haggling.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk continues to be under fire from his other company, Tesla, following new reports of steering wheel malfunctions leading to extremely hazardous road conditions. With so much controversy surrounding the polarizing billionaire, it’s tough to imagine what his next move will be. One thing’s for sure, it’ll come at a steep asking price.
