Twitter has suffered a massive data breach and data of 235 million users has been leaked. The social media company is also battling fake verified accounts on the platform.
When Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter in 2022, he vowed to turn around the company and said it is cannot achieve its true potential as a public company. Musk thereafter walked out of the deal in a typical “buyer’s remorse.”
He eventually acquired the company in October after Twitter sued him for “specific performance.” It has not even been three months since Musk took over the microblogging company and its troubles only seem to intensify.
In the most recent setbacks, hackers have gained access to around 235 million Twitter users which makes it one of the biggest data breaches in history.
So far, the company hasn’t made any public announcement about the hack but it suffered data breaches in 2022 also before Musk took over.
Twitter Suffers a Massive Data Breach and Data of Millions of Users is Leaked
The massive data breach only adds to the company’s woes. Recently Washington Post journalist Geoffrey A. Fowler managed to set up a fake verified Twitter account in the name of Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
Notably, Musk has now started charging for verified badges. The scheme’s initial launch was full of glitches and many fake verified accounts cropped up. The company soon suspended the blue tick verification process only to restart it later after Musk said that it has fixed the snags.
However, as the fake account of Sen. Ed Markey shows, the company still has a long way to go before it sorts the verification mechanism.
The paid subscription would be crucial for the company as Musk wants to lower the reliance on ad revenues.
Shortly after Musk took over Twitter, he complained that many advertisers have pulled back ad spending on the platform. The platform also faced an outage recently adding to the long list of troubles.
Musk’s Twitter Acquisition Has Been Chaotic
There has been chaos at Twitter since Musk took over the company. He fired around half of Twitter’s workforce and many contractors soon after he took over.
Twitter has not paid rent for several offices and at least one landlord has sued it for non-payment of dues. The company is even contemplating not paying severance pay to the fired employees.
It has also auctioned several items in what looks like an attempt to raise cash. Reportedly, several Twitter employees carried their own toilet papers to the office after the company fired janitors.
Previously, Musk said that Twitter is losing $4 million every day. He also said that the company might go bankrupt. Notably, after Musk’s acquisition, which was partially financed with debt, Twitter’s annual interest expense has increased to around $1 billion.
Tesla Stock Also Crashed Since Musk’s Acquisition
The fallout from Musk’s Twitter acquisition is also visible in Tesla stock, and it lost 65% last year. In absolute terms, the company lost $675 billion in market cap in 2022. The company also missed delivery estimates for the fourth quarter of 2022.
After a subdued Q4 2022 delivery report, Tesla stock fell to a new 52-week low on the first trading day of 2023.
Analysts meanwhile believe that the Inflation Reduction Act is a positive for Tesla stock. Many brokerages issued bullish notes on TSLA stock after the Act was passed and Wolfe Research upgraded Tesla stock to a buy and raised its earnings estimates.
While Tesla stock crashed after Musk acquired Twitter, we saw buying interest in Dogecoin. Musk is the self-proclaimed dogefather and previously touted accepting the meme cryptocurrency as a payment for Tesla cars.
Dogecoin saw some traction though since Musk acquired Twitter. You can also buy dogecoin with PayPal.
Musk Would Step Down from Twitter Once He Finds a New CEO
Meanwhile, Musk has offered to step down as Twitter’s CEO once he finds a replacement. However, he would continue to head the technology teams.
Overall, Twitter now seems in a bigger mess than it was before Musk took over. From advertisers pulling back to non-payment of dues, troubles have only increased for the social media company since Musk acquired it and took it private.
Jack Dorsey, who initially supported Musk’s bid to turn around Twitter also does not seem too pleased with the way Musk has steered the company.
Dorsey continued to stay as a Twitter investor even after Musk took it private. Meanwhile, Fidelity, another Twitter shareholder, has marked down the valuation of the microblogging site by around 56%.
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