Elon Musk Takes Swipe at Those Who Forecast Twitter Demise

Last week, #RIPTwitter flooded the platform as users feared that the influential messaging app would break down following mass firings and resignations.

Elon Musk took a dig at people who predicted Twitter will not be able to survive under his leadership on Wednesday, quipping, "Wasn't Twitter supposed to die by now or something...?"

The multi-billionaire's latest attack on his critics came a day after he suspended the relaunch of Twitter's flagship $8 Blue subscription plan. The suspension came amid a massive reduction in employee numbers besides rising monthly active users on the social network.

The 51-year-old business tycoon, the founder of electric carmaker Tesla and SpaceX, has been heavily critical of those who have been slamming him for putting Twitter in "chaos".

Just a day ago, he urged users who had panned him in recent times to quit Twitter and shift to other social media networks.

"Hope all judgy hall monitors stay on other platforms - please, I'm begging u," Musk tweeted.

When Musk acquired it late last month in a $44 billion deal, the San Francisco-based company had a workforce of more than 7,000.

The employee count at Twitter dropped to 2,700 this week. This came after Musk fired half of the staff following another round of layoffs and resignations.

The company was even forced to close its headquarters in California earlier this week after hundreds of employees resigned following Musk's demand that they adhere to a "hardcore" work culture of long hours without perks.

However, in what can be termed as good news for Twitter, Musk announced on Tuesday that he started hiring people at the social media giant and is currently looking for "software developers".

"In terms of critical hires, I would say people who are great at writing software are the highest priority," Musk said.