In a surprising turn of events, while Elon Musk had unleashed a barrage of criticism toward Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta Platforms Inc. META CEO praised the Tesla CEO.
What Happened: Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, didn’t hold back his criticism of Zuckerberg when reports about Meta launching a rival social network emerged. However, the Meta CEO had nothing but praiseworthy words for Musk — although in a different context.
This unexpected display of praise from Meta CEO came during his recent appearance at Lex Fridman’s podcast show.
During the podcast, when Fridman asked Zuckerberg about his opinion on what Musk is doing right in terms of handling Twitter and what not, the Meta CEO responded by appreciating the tech billionaire’s bold actions of laying off thousands of employees and making the microblogging site more technical with fewer layers of management.
Zuckerberg said that Musk’s actions prompted industry-wide reflection on the effectiveness of similar principles. Despite potential differences in opinions on the extent of layoffs, he acknowledged that Musk was ahead of many other companies.
“His actions led me and I think a lot of other folks in the industry to think about, ‘Hey, are we kind of doing this as much as we should?'” he stated, adding, “Could we make our companies better by pushing on some of the same principles?… My sense is that there were a lot of other people who thought that those were good changes but who may have been a little shy about doing them.”
It is pertinent to note that Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, also underwent significant layoffs, with over 10,000 employees affected in addition to previous job cuts. While employee morale was impacted, Meta’s shares experienced positive growth.
Why It’s Important: Tech layoffs have been prevalent in other major companies this year, potentially influenced by over-hiring in recent years due to increased demand and favorable market conditions.
Musk previously admitted that some Twitter employees let go were not superfluous, emphasizing the necessity of drastic measures in challenging situations.
He justified the layoffs at Twitter, citing the risk of potential bankruptcy and the urgent need to cut costs. By taking on substantial debt for the acquisition, Musk faced additional pressure to stabilize the company’s financial situation.
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