[이데일리 장영은 기자] Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reportedly mentioned that he will develop a new revenue model for Twitter, which is being acquired.
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Archyde.com reported on the 29th (local time), citing sources familiar with the matter, that Musk has announced plans to cut executive salaries and develop new revenue models to cut costs to banks that Musk has agreed to fund the Twitter acquisition.
According to officials, Musk explained his plans to the banks to borrow money for the Twitter acquisition, saying he might cut salaries for Twitter executives and board of directors to cut costs. He also said that he would develop new ways to monetize tweets.
Musk had to convince banks that Twitter would generate enough cash flow to repay the interest on a loan he was taking, and he appears to have mentioned two typical ways to do this. Sources said Musk’s plan was more of a vision than a commitment, adding that Musk’s proposed plan did not contain much specifics.
However, wage cuts for executives and the board of directors are highly likely to become a reality. Musk tweeted on the 18th that “If the acquisition is successful, the board’s salary will be $0” and “this might save $3 million a year (regarding 3.7 billion won).”
Musk’s idea as a new revenue model is to charge a fee when an external website cites a specific tweet or uses it on its own site. The goal is to increase revenue by using tweets that contain important information or are widely talked regarding among people.
On the 28th, Bloomberg reported that Musk had also mentioned to the banks he borrowed money from layoffs.
Meanwhile, Musk pledged $13 billion (regarding 16.4 trillion won) of the $44 billion (regarding 55.6 trillion won) acquisition price with Twitter and 12.5 billion dollars (regarding 15.8 trillion won) with his Tesla stock as collateral. They each agreed to take out a loan. The remaining $18.5 billion (regarding 23.4 trillion won) will be secured through equity financing.