Elon Musk Places Twitter’s Value at $20 Billion
A leaked memo’s calculations released by the billionaire Elon Musk showed that the social media company Twitter is worth less than $20 billion. ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

A leaked memo's calculations released by billionaire Elon Musk showed that the social media company Twitter is worth less than $20 billion. The Tesla CEO and SpaceX company leader bought Twitter in October for $44 billion.

Upon Musk acquiring Twitter, several large advertisers left the platform while a major source of funds for Musk's purchase of the company, Fidelity, has written down the value of its stake by 56%, according to The Guardian.

It was first reported that the measure of Twitter's worth was based on Musk's offer of stock grants.

It was usually used to incentivize employees, with stock grants being opportunities to buy shares that cannot be sold until a set point in time. It is different from stock options, which can be more flexible.

The stock grants could be "sold every six months" based on a third-party valuation, according to another separate internal email.

He speculated in the email that the social media company could be worth $250 billion someday.

Twitter Under Elon Musk

Elon Musk had applied "radical changes" at the company, such as mass layoffs and cost cutting, saying that it was necessary to avoid bankruptcy and streamline operations, as cited by The New York Times.

Musk has been widely reported for how he runs the social media company.

The billionaire recently sent a notice to staff on Wednesday to remind employees that working from home is unacceptable.

Fox News reported that Musk emailed employees at 2:30 in the morning, writing that "office is not optional." The matter was first reported by platform managing editor Zoe Schiffer.

Before he sent the email, he complained that the San Francisco headquarters had been vacant.

The new Twitter CEO also ended the social media company's work-from-home option in November.

He then warned those employees within driving distance of the office, saying they needed to be present in the office or have their "resignation accepted."

Musk is also the CEO of Tesla, wherein he also imposed stricter rules such as requiring Tesla workers to spend a "minimum of 40 hours" in the office every week. He used the subject "remote work is no longer acceptable."

Developments in Twitter

Twitter has also asked the organization to okay $1,000 a month to have a verified blue checkmark on their Twitter accounts. Recently, the social media company said that it is planning to remove the agency's verified blue checks from users' accounts starting on April 1, which is April Fool's Day.

Users can keep their verified checkmarks by signing up for its paid Twitter Blue subscription, which costs $8 per month, as reported by Business Insider.

William LeGate, the cofounder of Pillow-Fight, told the media outlet that the $1,000-a-month payment was "outlandish" and "meaningless."

LeGate said that the blue checkmark did not offer a noticeable boost in engagement. He added that Blue checks will be "overtaken by trolls and imposters" once April 1 comes.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Twitter bots advertising guns to users tweet using trigger terms - from NBC News