(Reuters) – Elon Musk, who once tweeted “I hate promoting”, said he wants Twitter Inc to be “essentially the most respected promoting platform”, in a bid to realize the trust of ad buyers ahead of the expected close of his $44 billion deal for the social media firm.
Musk, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and investors within the deal had previously suggested moving away from promoting and looking for revenue from subscriptions and other means. Advertisers have also told Reuters they were apprehensive of the takeover.
“There was much speculation about why I purchased Twitter and what I take into consideration promoting. Most of it has been improper,” Musk said in a tweet on Thursday.
“Fundamentally, Twitter aspires to be essentially the most respected promoting platform on this planet that strengthens your brand grows your enterprise.”
Ad sales accounted for greater than 90% of Twitter’s revenue within the second quarter, and Reuters reported earlier this week that the corporate was struggling to maintain its most energetic users who’re vital to the business.
That underscores the challenge faced by Musk, who visited Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday and likewise hinted at being the corporate’s top boss by updating his profile bio to “Chief Twit”.
In his tweets on Thursday, Musk also said he wanted Twitter to be “a typical digital town square, where a wide selection of beliefs may be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence”.
The self-described “free speech absolutist” said in May he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former U.S. President Donald Trump, who was faraway from the microblogging site in January last yr over the chance of further incitement of violence after the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
The query of reinstating Trump on the social media platform has been seen as a litmus test of how far Musk will go in making changes, although Trump himself has said he wouldn’t return.
Twitter deal’s completion would mark an end to a six-month-long saga. The corporate’s shares can be suspended from trading on Friday, the Recent York Stock Exchange’s website showed.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Writing by Aditya Soni; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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