QIA CEO Affirms Trust in Elon Musk’s Leadership of Twitter
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) CEO, Mansoor Al-Mahmoud affirmed the trust of his company in Elon Musk’s leadership of Twitter. During a press interview in Davos, Al-Mahmoud reiterated his company’s commitment to the original plans and promise to Twitter. According to him, they have engaged with the company and with Musk, believing and trusting his leadership in terms of turning Twitter around.
“We trust” @elonmusk’s leadership at Twitter, Qatar Investment Authority CEO Mansoor Al-Mahmoud tells @flacqua in Davos (via @BloombergTV) https://t.co/z0G0RgvFdS pic.twitter.com/oXW5ZTejl3
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) January 16, 2023
QIA contributed $375 million to finance the Twitter acquisition deal. It was one of the sovereign wealth funds that invested in the $44 billion purchase of the social network. All the state-owned investors’ stakes that supported the purchase totaled around $1 billion. That is a relatively small percentage of the total worth of the company.
Shortly after the Twitter takeover by Musk, several members of staff were made to leave the company. Musk worked towards cutting costs, at the same time imposing his style of leadership. That rattled the platform and its users, raising questions over the perceived radicality in his previous engagements that will hurt the company.
Musk has already laid off another set of workers in 2023. The latest cut affected the team behind global content moderation. Those who handle matters related to hate speech and harassment were also affected. At least a dozen workers among them were laid off.
Developments like this are perceived to be eating into the trust level of Musk’s Twitter. His ability to effectively manage the platform has come under scrutiny. Meanwhile, several Tesla investors, the electric car manufacturing company owned by Musk, think that his focus on Twitter is a distraction that has caused Tesla’s stock to dump in the past months.
Mansoor’s affirmation is a vote of confidence from his company. His comments imply that Twitter in its current state needs to be reformed. He did not question Musk’s ability to manage the situation. On the contrary, he said that QIA trusts Musk’s leadership in terms of turning around the company.
