Connect with us

Social Networking

Elon Musk Ropes in Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Sriram Krishnan Ahead of Plans to Revamp Twitter

Avatar

Published

on

By Press Trust of India | Updated: 1 November 2022

Krishnan started his career at Microsoft where he touched numerous projects related to Windows Azure.

Author of “Programming Windows Azure” published by O’Reilly, he also co-hosts with his wife Aarthi Ramamurthy ‘The Good Time Show’ on Clubhouse, a nightly show through which they interview innovators around tech and culture.

He is an alumnus of SRM Engineering College, Anna University where he did his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Information Technology, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Last week, Musk completed the $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,63,090 crore) acquisition of Twitter and ousted chief executive Parag Agrawal, legal executive Vijaya Gadde, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett.

Musk, according to reports, plans to rethink the company’s content moderation policies and permanent bans for users who previously violated the platform’s policies, including former President Donald Trump, although he said over the weekend that no major decisions have been made yet. He also is reported to be planning large layoffs at the company.

Musk has said the process of gaining a prestigious “blue tick” will be revised. Reports said the firm could start charging $20 (roughly Rs. 1,650) per month to be verified.

Many of Twitter’s most prominent verified users said they would leave if it tried to implement the plan.

Stephen King, an American author, tweeted: “$20 (roughly Rs. 1,650) a month to keep my blue check? F– that, they should pay me. If that gets instituted, I’m gone like Enron.” Hours later, Musk replied to King: “We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?” A blue tick is currently free and a way of signalling an account is authentic.

While there has been no official confirmation of the plan, on Monday Musk appeared to acknowledge the speculation in a new tweet which said: “On no, all our diabolical plans have been revealed!!” In a separate development, Musk has denied a New York Times report that he plans to lay off Twitter workers before the start of next month to avoid having to make payouts.

The New York Times reported that Musk had ordered major job cuts across Twitter’s workforce.

Citing people with knowledge of the situation, the report said that some managers were being asked to “draw up lists of employees to cut.” The newspaper said the layoffs would take place before November 1, when workers were due to receive grants of shares in the company as a major part of their pay deals.

But replying to a Twitter user asking about the report, he said: “This is false.” The takeover has prompted discussion among Twitter users over what the platform will look like under Musk’s ownership, the BBC said.

Some have voiced concerns that more lenient free speech policies would mean people banned for hate speech or disinformation may be allowed back to the platform.