DLNews Biz:

Tech company faces massive money problems.

U.S. consumer advocates worried --- More top executives have resigned

Since Elon Musk (51) bought Twitter, there has been bad news surrounding the tech company almost daily. Now the new boss even fears that the social media service could go bankrupt next year!

During an appearance in front of employees on Thursday, he warned, according to media reports, that Twitter could have a billion-dollar hole in its balance sheet next year. Under these circumstances, if we don't manage to bring in more money than we spend, "insolvency is not out of the question," Musk was quoted as saying by the financial service Bloomberg and the tech media "The Information" and "Platformer," among others. A statement from the Tesla CEO himself was initially not available.

Even before Musk's 44-billion takeover, Twitter had recently been in the red. After the deal, Musk complained about a slump in sales because some major advertisers had suspended ads on the platform. They worry that their ads could appear next to offensive tweets if Musk relaxes content rules as announced.

In addition, the tech company is burdened by the loan of around $13 billion that Musk took out to make the purchase. According to media reports, servicing this debt costs around one billion dollars annually. The tech billionaire wants to supplement advertising revenue with a subscription business, which has accounted for 90 percent of revenue to date.

The launch of his new subscription with verification checkmarks initially caused chaos as some users imitated celebrities and businesses with fake accounts. "We are watching Twitter's recent developments with great concern," a spokesman for the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Commission (FTC) said Thursday. No company or its chief executive is above the law, he said.

Before announcing a possible bankruptcy, Musk had warned employees of difficult times in an email. He said the economic situation is "dire,", especially for a company that depends on advertising revenue.

In the memo, from which U.S. media quoted unanimously, Musk also announced new guidelines regarding home offices - in the future, working from home will only be permitted with his express personal permission. In addition, employees must be in the office at least 40 hours a week. Before the takeover, Twitter's employees were allowed to work from anywhere.

Musk had cut about half of Twitter's previous 7500 jobs last week. However, he reportedly said the company still had too many employees in some cases.

In the U.S., more executives have handed in their resignations. According to an insider on Thursday, head of the trust and security Yoel Roth, deputy head of sales Robin Wheeler, privacy officer Damien Kieran and head of compliance Marianne Fogarty have resigned from their posts. They follow the resignation of Lea Kissner, the former chief information security officer, who announced her resignation early Thursday afternoon in a tweet.